Grace Weaver

The inaugural monograph of the acclaimed Brooklyn-based artist, whose colorful figure paintings revel in their own energetic excess

The long-limbed figures in the paintings of Brooklyn-based artist Grace Weaver (born 1989) exist “halfway between reality and fable,” depicted in vivid color palettes of pink and red as they engage in everyday activities: painting their nails, braiding their hair, making avocado toast. They press up against the edges of the large-scale canvases on which they are painted, as if their liveliness is barely contained by the two-dimensional medium of acrylics and oil.

In an age so concerned with “relatability,” Weaver’s paintings are playful and self-aware, resulting in work that is reflective of quotidian realities while avoiding cliché. Distinctly contemporary and decidedly feminine, Weaver magnifies small moments of modern life and imbues them with a unique emotional depth.

After Weaver’s work was presented in solo exhibits at two German institutions, Kunstpalais Erlangen and Oldenburger Kunstverein, to great success, the museums have collaborated on the publication of the artist’s first monograph.