If there was ever going to be a great name for a painting show, Meat & Potatoes is it. Hashimoto Contemporary is pleased to present “Meat & Potatoes”, a two-person exhibition featuring work by Jeffrey Cheung and Anna Valdez. And really does get into that meat and potatoes vibe of painting; just being really good at the most classic elements. Valdez creates wonderful still-lifes with both oils and digital renderings, where Cheung plays off the classic figurative language of Matisse of Gauguin, and transforms it into a contemporary understanding.
From the gallery: Anna Valdez brings forth a harmonizing counterpart to Cheung’s figurative works. Drawing reference from the domestic space of her Oakland studio, Valdez constructs compositions that hum with pattern and slowly formulate through detail and repetition. Although primarily consisting of various household objects, such as blankets, books, potted plants or the occasional Tecate can, these paintings serve more as an archive of personal identity. In the artist’s own words: “These items exist as a part of my domestic environment, and I have put them in my paintings to understand the domestic sphere as emblematic of both personal and collective experience.”