Hilary Pecis Orbiting Book Launch & Signing

Through her vibrant still lifes, interiors and landscapes, California–based artist Hilary Pecis weaves a rich tapestry of glowing colors and subtle ornaments compiled from her everyday surroundings. Her paintings—including such motifs as coffee tables full of books, storefronts, blooming fields and meals set out on patterned tablecloths—form the basis for scintillating, crowded compositions rife with color and texture. Pecis’ use of saturated colors and angular perspectives is evocative of Fauvism, but the ultracontemporary subject matter situates her oeuvre firmly within the modern and materialist world of her native Southern California.

With an eye-catching cover, this catalog documents Pecis’ first institutional solo exhibition in China at the TAG Art Museum in Qingdao in 2023, featuring a rich selection of over 20 works created between 2018 and 2023.

Hilary Pecis earned her BFA and MFA from the California College of the Arts. She lives and works in Los Angeles.

Pecis’ paintings often originate from everyday photographs she takes of her own home as well as other people’s domestic spaces, streetscapes of Los Angeles where she lives, and landscapes of places she has traveled to. For Pecis, the vibrantly colored still lifes, meticulously arranged interiors, and sun-drenched exteriors are “signifiers of who we are and who we want to be,” composing a telling portraiture of the contemporary self. Art books and other forms of art reproduction also frequent Pecis’ work, indicating her interest in the history of painting, allowing her to try out various styles from the past, and at once locating her in dialogue with the lineage of modernists such as Fauvism.

In 2023, Pecis’ first museum solo show in Asia, “Orbiting,” was featured at TAG Art Museum, Qingdao. Curated by Leo Li Chen, the exhibition includes 20-plus works the artist created over the last five years, including new works painted specifically for this show.

Pecis has also been the subject of solo and two-person exhibitions at Gagosian, Athens (2023); David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles (2023); Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York (2022); Rockefeller Center, New York (2021); Timothy Taylor Gallery, London (2021); Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, New York (2021); SPURS Gallery, Beijing (2020); Crisp-Ellert Art Museum, Flagler College, St Augustine, Florida (2019). Her work is in many public collections, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, California; Columbus Art Museum, Columbus, Ohio; the Berezdivin Collection, Puerto Rico; Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, South Korea; Yuz Museum, Shanghai; Aurora Museum, Shanghai; Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing; Deji Art Museum, Nanjing.

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