Alicia McCarthy in Juxtapoz Magazine

Oakland-based artist Alicia McCarthy will be coming back to New York for her seventh solo exhibition with Jack Hanley Gallery. Opening on 16th November, Fall will include new drawings and large scale paintings of her characteristic colorful geometric shapes and patterns.

Alicia McCarthy is renowned for her woven-like compositions which are created in distinct handmade quality using wide array of materials and techniques. This mixture of hazy, often vibrant colors and shapes, constructs colorful maze that is directing observers focus towards each individual line. Although evoking the spirit and tradition of folk art, these works are also celebrating the urban lifestyle, particularly graffiti and sign painting culture through use of spray paint or latex paint. Instead of working with classic mediums and formats, McCarthy prefers working on found wood panels and objects, like many artists affiliated with San Francisco's “Mission School” movement. By recycling these materials the artists is incorporating their past and narratives within her intricate works while paying tribute to the gritty side of the city landscape. Although flawless and harmonious at first, her compositions of weaves, grids, and geometric shapes, even in the application of paint, are filled with imperfections and unexpected distortions, celebrating the expressive, hands-on traditional approach of her creative process.