Ocala Opening Reception

Ocala
Alysia Macaulay
March 4 - 27, 2022

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday March 4, 2022, 5:00-8:00 pm
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LaiSun Keane presents Boston-based artist Alysia Macaulay in her solo exhibition, Ocala. The artist presents her new body of work as a subject matter and medium departure; working with paint and directly representational subjects in a layered distillation of color, form, subject and perspective.

Based on photographs taken during her family’s month-long pandemic residency in Ocala, Florida, known as the “Horse Capital of the World,” Ocala features collages of the free-range horses and palm forest vegetation surrounding horse farm where Macaulay, her husband and daughter resided in the winter of 2021.

In contrast to the impeccably groomed, dressed and regimented competition horses her daughter rode, the free roaming mares on the farm lived outdoors under the trees, herding together and foraging in all weather conditions. Macaulay photographed these animals with no set artistic work in mind; it was only after she returned to Boston and started sifting through the images that she realized that she could apply her particular approach to color blocking, digital manipulation and perspective shifting to the realm of equestrian art. In doing so she has created works that feel sculptural and dense, both representative and abstract.

In a shift from her past two exhibitions, where she used Photoshop to create fields of color, Macaulay began experimenting with acrylic paint on gesso board for the backgrounds of each collage. Mixing colors by hand provided both a sense of freedom and control. The artist hand-cut each photo, which she printed on heavyweight matte photographic paper. This meditative and engrossing process added an additional layer of substance to the work. The juxtaposition of foreshortened images of animals and trees, placed against utterly flat backgrounds, creates a play that both teases and intrigues the viewer. ​

This is Alysia Macaulay’s second solo exhibition with us; the first was at our Wellesley pop up back in July 2020 before we had a permanent gallery space in Boston.

Alysia’s art and practice continue to evolve, and this body of work expands on her material vocabulary as well as personal narrative.

We are proud to champion Boston-based women artists like Alysia Macaulay. She and I share the same vision for supporting women in the art world.

- LaiSun Keane

Ocala will be on view at LaiSun Keane Gallery, 460C Harrison Ave C8A, Boston MA 02118 through March 27.

For more information and images, please contact Kelly Vogt Campbell at [email protected] or 310.927.4537.

For more details and the exhibition checklist, email [email protected]

Due to Boston's Covid-19 protocol, face mask and proof of vaccination are required when visiting our gallery.

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