"I’ve always been drawn to the idea of having a research project," Grace Weaver told us in her Fall 2018 cover story, "a big endeavor that I could undertake on my own, gathering information from all over the place and synthesizing something, some new theory. I think that’s why biology appealed to me." I was reminded about this line from my interview with Weaver two years ago as she was then preparing for her first solo show with James Cohan in NYC. Now, as she prepares to open her second solo with the gallery with STEPS, her work has become more refined, more detailed in her examinations of the everyday tragicomedy of life, perhaps a style that we need more than ever. 

Weaver explores the “theater of public life" in her paintings, a quality and characteristic I keep coming back to in 2020. As we are in and out of being sheltered-in-place, and make an attempt to live some sort of existence in public or even redefine what our public life means, there seems to be a continuous trend of missteps and errors. Even though Weaver's work have that theatrical element, and comment on our performative selves, there is almost a longing to return to when we were being physically interacting with others. That we are now completely merging our digital and public selves, there is a bit confusion as to how we interact with others. As Cohan Gallery notes, "Alienation versus belonging, cruelty versus connection—the pains, pleasures, and anxieties of everyday existence are writ large in this collective space." As our collective space evolves, these paintings and drawings are telling a collective story. —Evan Pricco

Weaver's paintings will be on view at James Cohan’s Tribeca work at 48 Walker Street in Tribeca, and the charcoal drawings will be on view at 291 Grand Street. Both are on view for appointments only.