“I can remember being a little girl and wanting boobs and craving the power of womanhood. I imagined a level of agency and confidence that I would one day inhabit, which — if I’m being honest — eludes me even now.” ­
— Anna Weyant

A Private Moment

 

A timeless capsule of female sensuality, a vignette set against a cinematic sombre setting, Chest eternalises femininity with charm, elegance and grace. Breath-takingly sensual yet tantalisingly voyeuristic, an undressed, porcelain female torso is presented before us in Chest: a work which encapsulates Canadian artist Anna Weyant’s most celebrated painterly fantasies - a gem of her popular figurative women paintings imbued with psychological decadence. Painted with a muted palette of neutral hues, the female body glows with skilled application of chiaroscuro in shades of sepia. The smoothly painted brushstrokes portray the light tinges of purple and blue on human flesh realistically. The position of the woman hints at her full awareness of being naked and observed, yet she shies and leans away to cover her breasts with her arm. We are met with a quiet sight simultaneously coy yet undeniably vulnerable: by veiling herself the torso accentuates her chest, her bosom constricting and heightening her femininity. The presentation of a realistically painted female body, anonymity, and self-conscious reaction to the spectator’s gaze on her nudity charge the painting with fantasy and imagination.

 

“[Weyant] conveys an understanding of her work’s roots while eliciting an immediate and emotional response.”
— Gagosian

Instagram Meets Old Masters

 

 

 

Drawing upon centuries of Western painting, Weyant references an eclectic range of art historical influences in Chest: she remodifies Venus’ pose in Renaissance masterpiece The Birth of Venus; utilises the palette of the seventeenth-century Dutch Old Masters; even extending her sources to present the human body to Contemporary artists John Curin, Jenny Saville and Francesca Woodman. Weyant particularly admires how Woodman captures the bends and folds of a woman’s physique against the light in photography, as demonstrated in Providence, Rhode Island from Space2. Clearly taking Woodman's style in her stride, Weyant portrays the covered up female body without full revelation, thoughtfully crafting an indirect pose in a deep psychological state, with a bit of darkness cast on their psyche.

 

 

 

“I like it when there's something that's not quite right in the image, something that doesn't fit… sometimes I have fun playing with the 'Instagram meets old painting' type of clash. ”
— Anna Weyant

 

In art making, Weyant also throws in contemporary social influences from pop culture, such as American cartoons and Instagram. The compositional arrangement of the present work has a zoom-in and cut-off effect like an Instagram post that conceals the identity of the woman, bringing the naked body to the fore. Another work by the artist, Stepped on a Spider also takes a similar approach on a pair of feet. The whimsical title of the work shows the artist’s sense of humour that encourages imagination while viewing her works. The artist has remarked, 'A little creepiness can save a painting sometimes. And then the gravity of the candle flicker behind her is off which makes you question the reality of the narrative.' The strange, almost eerie beauty in Chest is arresting, its imagery feels close to heart due to its referencing of cultural influences from history to the present day. A surreal, still image of an unknown female is thus tinged with an obscure kind of darkness, hinting at desire, while juxtaposing humour and solemnity, rebellion, and repression.

 

 

Collector’s Digest

 

Born 1995 in Calgary, Canada, Anna Weyant lives and works in New York. She received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Propelled into international stardom only within the past few years, Weyant has had multiple solo shows, beginning with her first high profile show, Welcome to the Dollhouse at 56 Henry, New York (2019), followed by Loose Screw at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles (2021) which sold out instantly; and Splinter with Blum & Poe, Tokyo (29 January - 12 March 2022) which has just closed.

 

In June 2021, Phillips New York had debuted Weyant’s work at auction with a work on paper that sold for more than five times its low estimate; in May 2022, her 2021 painting Buffett II, sold for US$730,800 (premium), more than seven times its low estimate.

 

In the same month, Gagosian gallery announced their solo representation of Weyant, making her the youngest artist to have joined the gallery’s roster at 27 years old. Her first solo exhibition with Gagosian, New York will be in the fall of this year.