Joanna Pousette-Dart

Locks Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new works on paper by Joanna Pousette-Dart (b. 1947). This will be the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. An e-catalogue is available here. 

Since the 1990s, Pousette-Dart has painted on shaped wood panels to create hemispheric compositions inspired by natural landscapes, the curvature of the earth and the effects of peripheral vision. Her language of form evolved out of perceptions of nature—its vastness, prismatic light and the everchanging dialogue between earth and sky—melding all the components of a painting into an active and dynamic interplay. Between the shapes of the panels and the forms and lines within them, her paintings create spatial continuums suggesting a state of constant flux that exists in the natural world.

Works on paper have always been a large part of Pousette-Dart’s practice and their immediate, improvisational nature allows her to explore new visual territory and synthesize her varied sources of inspiration. These works are not studies for her paintings but rather spontaneous and intuitive explorations, or as the artist has stated, “gestural, kinesthetic imaginings.” Unlike her shaped paintings where there is an established form to work in relation to, each drawing finds its own form floating within the space of the rectangle.

In her myriad compositions, Pousette-Dart redefines the nature of a line. At times it is as an outline changing color or tonality in relation to the fields of color it sits upon or passes through. At other times it swells as it moves through space to become a form in itself. By shifting color or incrementally varying tonalities from warm to cold, light to dark, and opaque to transparent, the artist creates the effect of a fluctuating ambient light through which line and form meander. The combined use of acrylic and watercolor allows a rich array of tonal and gestural variations, intensifying an overall sense of depth and luminosity.

In the Spring of 2023, Pousette-Dart traveled to Mexico City. Inspired by the rich and complex culture, she produced this series of drawings, titled Mexican Suite. 

“Drawing for me is about a different kind of focus. It’s meditative, it’s dreaming, it’s freewheeling, it’s kinesthetic. It’s how I metabolize sources of inspiration.” –Joanna Pousette-Dart

Joanna Pousette-Dart (b. 1947) holds a BA from Bennington College, Vermont (1968). She has had recent solo exhibitions at the Wiesbaden Museum in Wiesbaden, Germany (catalog available); Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA ( catalog available);  Lisson Gallery New York, NY;  Lisson Gallery Shanghai (catalog available) and Lisson Gallery London (catalog available). Her work is included in the numerous public collections both nationally and internationally including  the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN; and Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR.; Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden Germany, to name a few. She lives and works in New York City.

Joanna Pousette-Dart: Line Movng Through Light will be on view in the first floor gallery and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 10am - 6pm or by appointment.

For all press inquiries, please contact Adrianna Brusie, abrusie@locksgallery.com.