Something about this quality paired with the subject matter of doe-faced girls, storybook horses, long ribbons and bows, black birds, sunsets, and blue roses, elates a dreaminess akin to something like falling in love. If these paintings were a candy, they would be millefeuille, or an ice cream sundae at an antique parlor on the Upper East Side, or yellow raisins, or lemon popsicles. There is something I just can’t put my finger on, like they are made of air, or water, or both, an evaporating effect that leaves me wanting more.
Installation View, Faye Wei Wei, The Moon Balloon of New York City, 2022, credits Manuel Carreon Lopez
I like the way Faye often just gives a taste to the viewer, without offering the entire main course. Like what appear to be the largest paintings in the room, on the most forward facing wall, of twin horses, half filled in, half left untouched. Like in the middle of painting, she went out to lunch (sea urchins?), and never came back. Part of me wants to fill in the rest of the painting myself, with my own brush, but I feel like that’s kind of the point, because so much is left up for me to imagine on my own.
I say lingerie, because it is something meant to be taken off, I think. A sheer layer, on which one could either add or subtract, and with something having to do with an invitation, or kisses. There is definitely romance in the air, in a way that is disconnected from pain or disappointment or cynicism. An old world, innocent, girlish idea about escapism into fantastic visions of love and transcendence.
The show as a whole is so refreshing and sweet, it feels like just the medicine the world needs now.
Exhibition: Faye Wei Wei – The Moon Balloon of New York City
Exhibition duration: March 23-April 23, 2022
Address and contact:
Galerie Kandlhofer
Brucknerstraße 4, 1040 Vienna
www.kandlhofer.com
Lauren Nickou is an American artist and writer living in Vienna. www.nickou.net