Launching in June, ART FOR CHANGE is pleased to present a new limited edition from Jeanine Brito benefiting the Ali Forney Center. Exploring themes of memory and desire through her folkloric portraits, Brito constructs grand narratives that unfold across the canvas. As seen in her current solo exhibition of ten new works at Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, The Invitation: A Fairytale by Jeanine Brito, we’re excited to take a closer look into the German-born artist’s practice.
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Jeanine Brito The evening’s affairs leave her bereft, 2023 21.5 x 18 inches Archival pigment print Edition of 10 Hand-embellished, signed, and numbered by the artist
Edition of 30 with 5AP + 1PP Signed and numbered by the artist Register interest with hello@artforchange.com |
Living and working in Toronto, Canada, the artist’s lush narrative paintings are inspired by her earlier work in graphic design, childhood trips to Mainz, Germany where she was exposed to museums, pastoral scenery, and the stories, both wondrous and grotesque, that have become suffused into her new imaginings. Brito invites us into her mind where a certain darkness is obscured by the whimsy and levity of her subjects.
Inspired by the wicked women of Hans Christian Andersen stories and Grimm fairytales, The Invitation tells a story of blind ambition and camp femininity. With the title of each painting presenting a new beat in the story, Brito opens the pages to the twisted beauty of her morally ambiguous heroine searching for her shot at acclaim. While earlier works focused on more personal memory, this newest work, along with new works in her current show at Nicodim Upstairs, conjure a swirling story cut into scenes and snapshots of flashing gestures and quick glances.
In the evening’s affairs leave her bereft, jewel tones and dresses and renaissance motifs take a Lynchian turn against the black and white checkerboard floor draped with billowing folds of red curtains. A theatrical flirtation, her suitor, a prince, removes a glove from her hand as he whisks her across the dance floor. She looks to him as if just noticing the motion, bereft, and the night continues. Her dress, adorned in hearts and ruffles, floats around her and the rest of the party has disappeared. Brito creates a disconcerting intimacy through her keen focus on more immaterial qualities of exchanged sexual signals. The grandeur of her reds, pinks, and greens heighten the discomfort, as the subjects tinker with how conventions will shift with this new element of their relationship. A mystery unfolding on the canvas, The evening’s affairs leave her bereft hits the mark on this cliffhanger in the artist’s newest stories.
This limited edition print is available for limited pre-orders exclusively through artforchange.com. The Invitation: A Fairytale by Jeanine Brito is on view from May 20, 2023 – July 1, 2023 at Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles.