Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Opening Night: Lori Earley’s “The Devil’s Pantomime” at Opera Gallery

On Saturday, June 7, the eminent pop surrealist painter Lori Earley opened a solo show at Opera Gallery in Soho, New York, featuring 34 new oil paintings as well as earlier portraiture drawings of her iconic female characters. The exhibition “The Devil's Pantomime” is opulent in its simplicity. The artist beckons an otherworldly beauty by magnifying the intrinsic features of a woman's face, and reaches the sensory-equivalent of how silk stockings, leather, and dewy skin feels in pure, color form.

Lori Earley. Right Before the Rain. Oil on board.

On Saturday, June 7, the eminent pop surrealist painter Lori Earley (HF Vol. 13 cover artist) opened a solo show at Opera Gallery in Soho, New York, featuring 34 new oil paintings as well as earlier portraiture drawings of her iconic female characters. The exhibition “The Devil’s Pantomime” is opulent in its simplicity. The artist beckons an otherworldly beauty by magnifying the intrinsic features of a woman’s face, and reaches the sensory-equivalent of how silk stockings, leather, and dewy skin feels in pure, color form.

The most satisfying aspect of viewing Earley’s show in person is the unavoidable experience of being overwhelmed by the visceral fervor that the artist originally instilled in her work — physically, through meticulous dark-to-light layers of paint, as well as psychologically, by giving her characters emotional depth and unique temperaments. The artist often paints the women with pastel-colored hair. They gaze back with learned, unforgiving eyes, as if Earley is allowing her portraits the power of choice. “The Devil’s Pantomime,” Earley’s largest show to date, celebrates the artist’s nearly-obsessive attention to finding beauty in the lonesome and solitary dimensions of her characters.

“The Devil’s Pantomime” will be on view at Opera Gallery through June 26.

Lori Earley next to her work. Right Before the Rain. Oil on board.

Lori Earley. Anhedonia. Oil on board.

Lori Earley. The Transformation. Oil on board.

Installation view of “The Devil’s Pantomime.”

Lori Earley. Women in the Green Dress. Oil on board.

Lori Earley. Black-Eyed Susan (Please Remember…). Oil on board.

Installation view at Opera Gallery.

Lori Earley at Opera Gallery in New York City.

Lori Earley. La Femme Aux Cheveux De Lilas. Oil on board.

Left: Right Before the Rain. Oil on board. Right: Cocktail Hour. Oil on board.

Lori Earley. Denise. Oil on board.

Lori Earley at Opera Gallery in New York City.

Portrait study drawing.

Lori Earley. The Woman Who Ignored the Mantis’ Warning. Oil on board.

Lori Earley. Cocktail Hour. Oil on board.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
John Jacobsmeyer’s plywood backdrops contain scenes that explore fantastical narratives, and lately, video game culture in particular. In his debut show at Jonathan Levine Projects, titled “Great Feats and Defeats,” continues a fascination with wood for the artist that reaches back to his childhood. The artist says that “rotary sawn pine plywood is cheap yet durable and along with being used as sub-flooring and fencing for construction sites. It’s also the material twelve-year-old children will use to build clubhouses in the woods where they’ll rule their own kingdoms, wage wars and rebuild bigger and wilder each time.” Jacobsmeyer was last featured on HiFructose.com here.

Justin Lovato

An upcoming group exhibition at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art showcases artists who craft both abstract and surreal interpretations of natural landscapes. "Surreal Sublime I,” opening on June 23, “celebrates the wonder of nature and suggests scenes from an apocalyptic and synthetic future.”
In a new show at Gallery 30 South in Pasadena, Hi-Fructose co-founder Attaboy shows sculptural and painted works on wood, which are often interactive. "Undergrowth," tackling themes of "death, decomposition and rebirth," features more than 60 works from the artist. These creations are part of a series that began in late 2017. The show runs May 2-26, with an opening reception planned for Sunday, May 5, from 3 p.m.-6 p.m.
In Heather Benjamin's recent work, her "lone cowgirl" character moves through a spectrum of emotions, attitudes, and phases that reflect the complexity of womanhood. She offered several of these new drawings in a show at Tokyo’s gallery commune under the banner "Burden of Blossom."

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List