The 27 Best Paintings of NADA Miami Beach 2016
Holly Coulis
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The objects in Holly Coulis’s paintings appear at first to sit on tabletops or other surfaces, but the spatial volumes are not always straightforward. At times objects are doubled, possibly rendering a shadow or suggesting movement. Throughout her compositions graphic lines traverse the canvas, defining the edges of each object and extending to a radiant outline, while flattening the space within the painting. Coulis’s use of color is arresting, layers of flat colors are built up while underlayers of paint are left exposed along the edge, leaving hints of process and implying a temporal dimension to the surface.
Some objects in the paintings are rendered with dimensionality, while others are flat. Some touch edges, while others overlap and become translucent. Coulis uses her subjects to both convey a sense of psychology and hint at the fine line between narrative and decoration, offering an interest in still life as an underrated genre — a domestic space in the history of painting and a familiar but disquieting source for contemplation.
Coulis’ recent solo exhibitions include Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, Claudia Groeflin Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Brooklyn and Sardine, Brooklyn. Group exhibitions include Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, Longhouse Projects, …
The objects in Holly Coulis’s paintings appear at first to sit on tabletops or other surfaces, but the spatial volumes are not always straightforward. At times objects are doubled, possibly rendering a shadow or suggesting movement. Throughout her compositions graphic lines traverse the canvas, defining the edges of each object and extending to a radiant outline, while flattening the space within the painting. Coulis’s use of color is arresting, layers of flat colors are built up while underlayers of paint are left exposed along the edge, leaving hints of process and implying a temporal dimension to the surface.
Some objects in the paintings are rendered with dimensionality, while others are flat. Some touch edges, while others overlap and become translucent. Coulis uses her subjects to both convey a sense of psychology and hint at the fine line between narrative and decoration, offering an interest in still life as an underrated genre — a domestic space in the history of painting and a familiar but disquieting source for contemplation.
Coulis’ recent solo exhibitions include Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, Claudia Groeflin Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Brooklyn and Sardine, Brooklyn. Group exhibitions include Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, Longhouse Projects, New York, Bravin Lee Projects, New York and Galleria d’Art Moderna, Milan, Italy among others.
Courtesy of Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery
Born 1968
Hometown Toronto, Canada
Lives and Works Brooklyn, New York
Education
MFA in Fine Arts, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1998
BFA in Fine Arts, Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto, ON, 1995
Representing Galleries
Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, CA
Works Available for Purchase
No works
