Neysa Grassi

Locks Gallery is proud to present an exhibition of new oil paintings by Philadelphia-based artist Neysa Grassi (b. 1951). Grassi’s seductive surfaces, built slowly over time through a meditative process of layering and burnishing, evoke geological and meteorological phenomena. Continuously emerging and dissolving, her atmospheric images yield a portrait of flux—a compressed record of the passage of time.

Art historian Jennie Hirsh writes: “Dense and ethereal, the satiny finishes of these peculiar paintings quietly glow, drawing the viewer toward the weight of the entombed linen and wooden supports, their enigmatic nature hinting at their long studio gestation.” Each work takes months, sometimes years, to complete and the resulting paintings are hauntingly beautiful, emergent forms born out of a laborious communion of materiality and consciousness.

Located on the first floor gallery, Neysa Grassi is paired with recent work by painter Joanna Pousette-Dart on the floor above. The exhibitions will be viewable by appointment only. Please contact the gallery directly at info@locksgallery.com to arrange a date and time. In accordance with recent safety measures surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak, masks will be provided upon entry and must be worn for the duration of the visit.

Neysa Grassi is a Pew Fellowship recipient and has had solo exhibitions at the Maryland Institute College of Art, MD; the Pensacola Art Museum, FL; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, PA; Swathmore College, PA; and the University of Delaware, DE. Grassi is currently a critic in the Masters of Fine Arts program at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Berman Museum of Art, the Palmer Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Woodmere Art Museum.