The global positioning of Australia makes it for a unique experience of the world events—having fresh winters while Europe or the USA enjoy the warm summers or hiding from the scorching sun while the others are having winter holidays. And the latter one became especially twisted in the year of pandemic, as the North hemisphere world went into lockdowns in order to fight the second or third waves of Covid-19 infections.

Watching this scenario unravel from the sun-basked Australia, seemed to have a strong impact on Rhys Lee, who recently opened his LA solo debut opened at Avenue des Arts with the aptly titled, Recent Paintings. "I was aiming to capture some voluptuous beach figures with some kind of playful freedom about them - masks on, boobs out," the artist told Juxtapoz about his drive behind the new series of work that marks this presentation. Not missing the opportunity to introduce himself to the new audience with a first solo show in the city of angels, this particular body of work serves as a link between the location where the work was made and where it's being presented. "I was definitely thinking about California while making the work," Lee told us, "But also, the Australian beach culture, lifeguards, and bubbles." 

Still creating a seamless and unique blend of graffiti and classical painting, these particular pieces feel cleaner, more focused, and more graphic than his previous work that was characterized by hard lines, shape, shadow, color, and intense mess. When asked how these works ended up more refined compared to his other works, the artist told us this had happened "in an effort to slow down my process, have patience, and be more considered with color and form." Dominated by highly stylized female subjects, whose bodies are deconstructed to an assemblage of clean shapes, the work feels both playful and uplifting, while having the physical qualities of an elaborate oil painting. Whether it's a portrait piece or an image of a full-body figure lounging on the beach, some of the new works are replacing the outline with mushy blur forged through Lee's intricate brushwork. Both adding to the softer appeal of the general image while capturing the radiant summer heat, the artist admits that these "images were a feel-good playful escape during the pandemic lockdown, looking for the blue sky."

Besides this new series, the exhibition features a smaller series of other works in which he continues his exploration of textures and surfaces as well as the blending of elements of his visuals. Through the process of layering paint, scraping, and painting over, he is creating coarse surfaces that construct the key elements of the depicted image. Using a wide range of different, often beat up brushes, the occasional linework feels like scars on the canvas, both defining the image and deconstructing it towards abstraction. This approach goes in line with the type of characters depicted, which are often portrayed in a menacing, threatening manner. With a handful of such works being in line with the works included in his last solo exhibition with Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Melbourne, Lee slightly stepped away from referencing traditional art influences and tropes but has undoubtedly kept the striking cubist aesthetic. —Sasha Bogojev