"A SELF APART" - 522 West 19th Street, New York

Explore the current exhibiton in 3D

Slag Gallery is pleased to present A Self Apart, a series of paintings by Alida Wilkinson. This will be Wilkinson's first solo show with Slag Gallery, NY.

In A Self Apart, Alida Wilkinson presents three series of life size works which imagine the many selves a person inhabits, releases, and protects. These series trace the evolution of Wilkinson’s figurative work, from monochrome and unanchored installations, to layered and desaturated wall-based works, to vivid single layer portraits.

Wilkinson draws from a range of art historical sources; her vertical formats and watery inks stem from an early and enduring interest in Japanese sumi-e scrolls, her stark likenesses and impressionistic strokes evoke John Singer Sargent’s monumental portraits, and elements of installation and layering are inspired by Ann Hamilton’s immersive works.

Wilkinson’s use of liquid ink and water on mylar alternates between sharp, intimate detailing and organic chaos. The unpredictable nature of her chosen medium lends a simmering, volatile energy to each work. Using herself, her girlfriend, and her close friends as subjects, Wilkinson captures a vulnerable aliveness in each figure. Her life size figures elicit a visceral connection with the viewer with their gazes, and her layered works provoke both a desire to see what lies beneath the top layer, and a reluctance to touch the work. Wilkinson is interested in this tension between viewer and painting, especially in the context of women as subject. Her paintings prompt both connection and confrontation; they grant the viewer access to each subject’s hidden selves, at the same time as they give agency to the subjects.

About the artist, Alida Wilkinson:

Alida (Allie) Wilkinson was born and raised in New York City and received a B.A. in Visual Arts from Bowdoin College. Her works have been exhibited in galleries across the United States, notably at Slag Gallery, Pen + Brush Gallery, Deanna Evans Projects, and Corridor Gallery. Her debut solo show in New York will open at Slag Gallery in January 2022. She has been an artist in residence at the Byrdcliffe Residency (NY, 2021) and the 77Art Residency (VT, 2019). Her ink paintings are held in private collections in the United States, France, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn.