"In many paintings, I’m asking the observers to finish the story themselves, and everyone will have a different viewpoint and interpretation," Ania Hobson told us a few years ago in her print feature with Juxtapoz. What is apparent in her new solo show at Steve Turner in LA, her first show in the USA, is that there is a stripped-down emotionally honesty in her newest works. The works are both a bird's eye view and personal portrait of the artist, making for an autobiographical tale of an artist exploring portrait work in a new and complicated way.
The gallery notes that Hobson's works aim for an "Emotional authenticity rather than factual accuracy," and this series feels so of the moment. Hobson always took a wider scope on her social life, and depicted women together in moments of social intimacy. And now she is looking at herself more, with nude portraits and bare emotional weight to counter-balance what she sees in herself in those social settings. It's a like a reset of understanding the self, and Hobson is exploring bold new ground. —Evan Pricco
