"When we look up at the sky, everything we see is the past and has already died a thousand, million, or billions of years ago. The paintings seem like this, a stage of things that have already happened but seem to be playing out in real t.mes before us"
T aking on the question of how images are perceived and processed in the present age, Leidy Churchman’s practice encompasses a wide spectrum of subjects including landscapes, advertisements, Tibetan Buddhism, scientific diagrams, and even the work of other artists, from Henri Rousseau to Barbara Kruger. Drawing on the postmodern idea that no subject is forbidden, Churchman’s diverse imagery mirrors the sheer abundance and circulation of visual information today. Moreover, Churchman has spoken of painting as part of a larger exploration of consciousness, a quest to expand what is knowable. One byproduct of this quest has been a redefinition of what is paintable. By paying close attention to the aesthetics of the everyday, Churchman discovers new subjects which deserve recognition – just as Warhol did in the 1960s. The artist has said, “I love the surprise element that comes from giving attention. There is always more to be seen… The surprise comes from the thing, or idea, merging with painting. The painting ultimately takes over. It is more powerful than the information.” (Leidy Churchman, quoted in “Merging With: Leidy Churchman Interviewed by Tausif Noor,” Bomb Magazine, October 2019)
Image © Museum of Modern Art, New York
Art © 2022 The Estate of Philip Guston / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Right: Salvador Dalí, The Persistence of Memory, 1931
Image © Museum of Modern Art, New York
Art © 2022 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
The present work draws on various art historical subjects, from the somber aesthetics of Philip Guston’s late still lifes to the uncanny Surrealist landscapes artists such as Giorgio de Chirico and Salvadore Dali. There is also an abstract element to Churchman’s carefully constructed composition, which is underpinned by imposing blocks of red, black, and blue. Churchman’s sparse landscape suggests a t.mes and place yet remains defiantly ambiguous, perhaps even otherworldly. It is only in the familiar objects – a pickle, a bottle, a hand – through which the viewer can ground themselves, yet these seemingly random objects have an equal capacity to confound and unsettle.
Churchman’s work is collects ed globally by institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and Mumok, Vienna. Their work has been included in group exhibitions at MoMA PS1, the New Museum, MOCA Los Angeles, and the Brandhorst Museum in Munich. In 2019, Leidy was the subject of a major mid-career survey at the Hessel Museum of Art, New York, and in 2021 Churchman had a solo exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Most recently, their painting Tallest Residential Tower in the Western Hemisphere (2015) was featured prominently in the 2022 Whitney Biennial in New York.
