Front Room is pleased to present Tight Fit, a solo exhibition of oil paintings by Emily Roz. These new works are based on close observation of the female body, yet are abstracted through the use of color and pattern. Roz fuses the stripes and polka dots of undergarments into her backgrounds in order to accentuate bodily forms squished into ill-fitting underwear. The compact poses present figures with their heads cropped by the canvases' edges, while torsos and appendages are accentuated through the use of reflected color from the intense chroma-rich backgrounds.   

Roz utilizes op-art techniques of merged patterns, overlapping planes, and receding grounds to create optical illusions that distort space and bodily relationships. The artist uses herself as a model, but the paintings are not exactly self-portraits; she self-objectifies by omitting key identifiers. With reference to works such as Joan Semmel’s personal perspective nudes, Christina Ramberg’s headless figures, and Maria Lassnig’s body consciousness pictures, Emily Roz’s contemporary feminist paintings use bold optics, dry humor and costume malfunctions to respond to the enduring plight of the female form.

Emily Roz (b. 1972, New Haven, CT) is a New York based artist. She studied at Penland School of Crafts and has a BA from Hampshire College where she concentrated in Art History, Literature and Weaving. Her MFA is in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Shows include Mulherin, Auxiliary Projects, and 31Grand. This is her fifth solo show with Front Room Gallery.