Larissa Bates at Monya Rowe and LMCC

Larissa Bates Sleeping MotherMan with Lazer Beams after Poussin's Narcissus 2008 acryla gouache on canvas 8" x 10"

I neglected to post anything about Larissa Bates's wonderful show at Monya Rowe, "Just Hustle and Muscle", while it was installed this past September and October. I was reminded of its excitement, and my own failings (just now I was also shocked to find that I have never done a separate post on Bates), when I visited the show of works by the gallery's artists installed in a new space on 22nd Street. I've decided to begin making up for lost time and opportunities.

Almost as soon as I started uploading images for this post I realized I had bitten off more than I could chew. Bates's work had hit me, both alarming and charming me, over a period of several years before I was able to learn much about either her inspirations or her anomalous iconography. Even now, after having seen and read things which provide more narrative context for this very beautiful work, I find that I can't give a compact written account of what I've learned. Instead I'll show several more images than I had originally planned. They were assembled from visits to several shows at Monya Rowe and one LMCC studio tour. I also can refer the curious to this Beautiful/Decay interview with the artist. They're all there; The wrestlers, the Cry-Baby MotherMen, the Lederhosen Boys, the Napoleons/Head Honchos and a lot more.

a relatively large piece, from the series "Man Power", shown in the artist's LMCC studio in April