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    Layers Upon Layers Root in History in Li Songsong’s Impasto Paintings

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    “Boundless Longevity” (2025), oil on canvas, 210 x 270 centimeters. All images courtesy of Pace Gallery, shared with permission

    Layers Upon Layers Root in History in Li Songsong’s Impasto Paintings

    November 14, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    Li Songsong (previously) has long centered his practice around translating archival imagery, whether it be a portrait printed in a newspaper or still from a film. The Chinese artist is broadly interested in the ways that memories morph over time and how, when we’re reflecting on a moment well in the past, our clarity over the particulars can be hazy.

    His new body of work, History Painting, takes a similar technical approach, although rather than interpret a specific scene, Li ventures into the abstract. Wide, impasto layers of oil paint cloak the large-scale canvas, creating a cacophony of color and texture that seems to swell upward while simultaneously pulling downward. As a filmed studio visit shows, the artist works from top down, adding one thick mark atop another in a sort of grid.

    “History VII: Snake Year” (2025), oil on canvas, 120 x 120 centimeters

    Pace Gallery, which represents Li, shares that History Painting reflects more on his relationship to the medium than any specific visual source, although, given his past work, it’s difficult not to try to find definition within the composition. The clustered ridges of paint, for example, might evoke bodies huddled together in mass, their backs to the viewer as they move toward an unknown destination. For Li, these brushstrokes, while abstract, do retain a sense of action and autonomy, and he describes them as “agentive and idiosyncratic” even as they’re covered again and again.

    History Painting is on view through December 20 in New York.

    “Revolution” (2025), oil on canvas, 210 x 210 centimeters

    Installation view of ‘Li Songson: History Painting’ (2025)

    “History IX: Mercy” (2025), oil on canvas, 120 x 120 centimeters

    “History IV: Sacrifice” (2025), oil on canvas, 120 x 120 centimeters

    Installation view of ‘Li Songson: History Painting’ (2025)

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      in Art

      Werner Bronkhorst’s Tiny Beachgoers and Sailors Wade Through Chunky Blue Expanses

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      Detail of “Walk On Water” (2025),
      archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69. All images courtesy of Dellaposa, shared with permission

      Werner Bronkhorst’s Tiny Beachgoers and Sailors Wade Through Chunky Blue Expanses

      July 23, 2025

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      In a world constrained by rising sea levels and the climate anxiety that comes with a warming planet, it’s not far-fetched to imagine a life surrounded by the blue ocean. For Werner Bronkhorst, the overwhelming nature of this potential future inspires a collection of mixed-media works that find minuscule figures amid broad expanses.

      Bronkhorst’s new body of work, Sail Away, on view at Dellaposa, visualizes solitary protagonists as they trudge to the beach or surf on a seemingly endless tide. Thick impasto strokes in varying shades of blue provide an abstract backdrop for each piece and minimize the already tiny characters. “I pour layers of gel, then wait for landscapes to emerge—mountains, waves, ice. Only then do I add the figures,” the artist shares.

      “Mockney” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm canvas, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

      Given their rare communion with other humans, Bronkhorst’s subjects also seem to embody the dissociation and disconnection of a post-digital world. Like a blip when viewed from afar, the figures emerge from their gestural environments as if in low resolution, their distinctive features impossible to discern.

      Raised in Pretoria, South Africa, Bronkhorst now lives and works in Australia. You can find more of his practice on Instagram.

      “Sail Away” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395 gsm canvas, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

      Detail of “Sail Away” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395 gsm canvas, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

      Detail of “Mockney” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm canvas, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

      Detail of “Blue Water High” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, 100× 100 centimeters framed, edition of 69

      “Blue Water High” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, 100× 100 centimeters framed, edition of 69

      “Diamond Sea” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, signed by the artist, 100× 100 centimeters framed, edition of 69

      “Walk On Water” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, 33 × 43 centimeters framed, edition of 69

      Detail of “Diamond Sea” (2025), archival pigment print on heavyweight 395gsm matte Canson Infinity PhotoArt ProCanvas, made with long-lasting Epson archival inks, hand-stretched over FSC-certified, finger-jointed New Zealand pine, and float framed in FSC-certified Meranti with a painted white finish, signed by the artist, 100× 100 centimeters framed, edition of 69

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    • 150 Shares159 Views

      in Art

      Sparse Brushstrokes Give Rise to Thick Impasto in Jose Lerma’s Minimal Portraits

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      “Leidy” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 48 x 36 inches. All images courtesy of Jose Lerma and Nino Mier Gallery, shared with permission

      Sparse Brushstrokes Give Rise to Thick Impasto in Jose Lerma’s Minimal Portraits

      March 13, 2025

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      When Jose Lerma encountered “Reception of the Grand Condé by Louis XIV” by Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, he found himself drawn to the figures tucked far behind the crowd. Known for his meticulous realism, Gérôme rendered these small characters with minimal brushstrokes, a decision that has influenced Lerma’s work for more than a decade.

      Exaggerating the sparse quality of the figures, Lerma (previously) paints portraits in wide swaths of acrylic applied with brooms and industrial tools. The new works retain the contrasts of earlier pieces as well-defined strokes sweep across the burlap to form heavy, impasto ridges.

      “Yamila” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 72 x 48 inches

      At Nino Mier Gallery in Brussels, Lerma’s new solo exhibition Bayamonesque presents the culmination of his current style. The title references his upbringing in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and how we think about resemblance. Painting both real subjects and manufactured characters, the portraits reference those who might otherwise be relegated to the background, stripping down their likeness to only what’s necessary.

      Vacillating between figurative and abstract, the compositions are what Lerma refers to as “the summary of a portrait…The abstract painter in me is, above all, drawn to certain people for specific features that can be broken down to their bare minimum as paintable elements: an expressive cowl, a striking nose, a distinctive shape of lips.”

      Bayamonesque is on view from March 14 to April 17 in Brussels. Find more from Lerma on Instagram.

      “Celimar” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 32 x 24 inches

      “Leda” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 72 x 48 inches

      “Clarisa” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 32 x 24 inches

      “Felo” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 24 x 16 inches

      “Ismaela” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 32 x 24 inches

      “Rania” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 32 x 24 inches

      “Fernanda” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 24 x 16 inches

      “Lisi” (2025), acrylic on burlap, 48 x 36 inches

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    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      In a Resounding ‘Renaissance,’ Conrad Jon Godly’s Acrylic Paintings Scale Alpine Peaks

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      “RENAISSANCE # 21” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 39 3/8 x 47 1/4 inches. All images courtesy of JD Malat Gallery, shared with permission

      In a Resounding ‘Renaissance,’ Conrad Jon Godly’s Acrylic Paintings Scale Alpine Peaks

      November 27, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Through the deft manipulation of thick acrylic paint on canvas, Conrad Jon Godly summons snow-capped peaks, tumbling mountain springs, and shifting weather.

      At JD Malat Gallery, the Swiss artist (previously) presents his largest body of work to date, RENAISSANCE, which follows a four-year hiatus. Godly is open about the mental health struggles that prevented him from painting, and in addition to his return to the gallery setting, the title refers to his experience of a “rebirth” as he overcame personal strife.

      “RENAISSANCE # 03” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

      Godly is known for his dramatic impasto depictions of mountain landscapes, which were historically created using oil paint. In this new series, he has transitioned to acrylic, which dries much faster and lends itself to opacity. He conveys the striking beauty of the Swiss Alps through fundamental compositional elements like texture, form, and tonal shifts.

      Viewed up close, Godly’s paintings melt into near-abstraction as our attention is drawn to the qualities of the paint and the interaction of light and shadow. Farther away, the meticulously formed edges and gestural brush strokes reveal the crisp outlines of snow, rock, waterfalls, and storms.

      RENAISSANCE will inhabit both floors of the gallery in London and run from December 12 to January 18. In the meantime, see more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

      “RENAISSANCE # 06” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 34” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 59 x 51 1/8 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 25” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 47 1/4 x 39 3/8 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 43” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 70 7/8 x 90 1/2 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 29” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 59 x 51 1/8 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 07” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 28” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 47 1/4 x 39 3/8 inches

      “RENAISSANCE # 05” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches

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