Kelly Bjork’s solo exhibition at the Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York

Posted by Fabio 4 September 2019

In her intimate narrative paintings, Seattle-based artist Kelly Bjork depicts candid moments between friends and lovers within tidy, domestic settings. Painted on paper with gouache and pencil, expressive figuration, patterning, and gratifying hues dominate Bjork’s work, confronting the viewer with challenging and amusing imagery. The artist’s pleasure-focused motifs invite viewers to enter a world where conflicts and tensions are simply absent.

Small in scale, Bjork’s compositions present rich visual complexity. The artist renders her scenes in precise detail, with studious attention to textures and patterns on walls, furnishings, and surfaces. Hanging tapestries, throw pillows, bed linens, bath towels, electrical outlets, rugs, artwork, and decorated vases are executed with meticulous care. Further, Bjork creates continuity between her paintings with recurring items—a lampshade from her Joshua Tree series, an expressive abstract painting, a hand-stitched quilt, and a pink electric gemstone light, to name a few. The particularity of these objects signals that they are not generic, but exist in a particular location and bear special significance to the artist.