In the Realm of Girls and Rabbits

Yesterday I visited Caty Wooley. With her funny dog, Caty just has moved to a new place in New Jersey and vivid saturated paintings still are crowded along the walls.

Large-scale and inticate in texture Wooley’s painting called up an association with a jam session. Variegated colorful layers form a real orchestra, where each layer is different, but all together they create a complex composition. At some place on a canvas strokes are put thickly and bold, while at the other - paint runs down. This motley bustle is counterbalanced by meticulous fragments of patterns. Above the layers of paint plastic jewels and glitter are applied skittishly.

Imagery of Wooley artwork refers to the traditions of pop art, and to that entertaining and playful side of American culture, which I almost never encounter directly, but know mostly from movies: bars, Las Vegas casinos, magazines like "Playboy", cowboys and wrestling. The paintings mainly present female characters. Borrowing poses from fashion magazines, they look rather decorative, the same as flowers and rabbits. But all of a sudden an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in uniform and medals appears, as if hinting that anything can be expected from Caty Wooley.

Photographs by courtesy of Caty Wooley