Veronica Fernandez
I Put My Faith In My Temple

October 22 - November 22, 2020

Thierry Goldberg is pleased to present I Put My Faith In My Temple, an online solo exhibition of works by Veronica Fernandez. The exhibition will be on view from October 22, 2020 through November 22, 2020.

In her paintings, Veronica Fernandez seamlessly blends images, mementos, and apparitions to recreate the feeling of mining through the fogginess of our own memories. Icons blur in and out of focus, just like our memories – some crystal clear, and some fading into nonexistence.

 

In her work Noise Between Apartments (2020), a figure sits at a white circular table surrounded by three azure blue chairs. At one chair, the figure sits with one leg bare, except for a tube sock; the other leg, disjointed, in jeans, without a foot. The upper half of the figure’s body is abstracted: brown and orange brushstrokes layer to create a torso, neck, and head. A long arm and a hand with painted white nails reaches out. Surrounding it, an olive and muddy brown shape twists and curls – is it a snake? It makes its way around a red, almost cartoon looking, figure, as if pasted from a children’s storybook. It stands with a look of distraught on its face.

 

Looking at Fernandez’s works we are reminded of what photographs capture, what memories recall, and what they both lack.  Like the bright red figure, sometimes it is someone’s expression that is ingrained in our minds, and like the abstracted figure, it is only their nail color and sock we remember; but we may not remember who else was there that night, or what the whole room looked like.

 

In I Close My Eyes and The World Becomes Flat (I’m Just Thankful I’m Not Blind) (2020), a scene simultaneously builds and crumbles around a standing man who holds a cross dangling from a chain. Behind him, a couch slouches, half of it upholstered in a fabric of mint green with maroon flowers, the other half simply outlined in red – an idea of a couch ­– as if this half is forgotten. Next to the man, a wrought iron gate defines the outmost perimeter of the room, while shades of brown squares, or bricks, slope up and down creating an uneven ground. Meanwhile objects signal discarded memories: a Mickey Mouse toy lays face flat on the floor; a seven-day pillbox floats; and a tiffany lamp just nearly escapes our gaze.

 

Pulling source images from photographs, social media, and memories, Fernandez weaves together these different scenes of a home to create one. She replicates and abstracts pictures of friends and family, mostly at home, in times of celebration and times of idleness.

 

In Hot Laundry (A Residual To Protection) (2020), a mother lounges in a lavender dress; a piece of white clothing draped in her lap, waiting to be folded. Her son stands by her; he looks at us as his hand meets the laundered garment, creating a moment of stillness and tender feelings.

 

All painted during Quarantine, Fernandez’s works show her reflections on the “home” and the decoding of old family memories. Her works speak to the time most have experienced in recent months; time spent looking through photo albums or scrolling through photos on our phones. Photos jogging our memory of childhood birthday parties, favorite toys, or remembering a close relationship we once had. Fernandez’s works capture the poignancy and discrepancies in our memories, and perhaps most significantly, the emotions behind them.

 

Veronica Fernandez (b. 1998, Norfolk, VA) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She holds a BFA from The School of Visual Arts, NY. She has previously exhibited at C.R.E.T.A., Rome, Italy, and SVA Chelsea Gallery, NY among others. This is her first show with Thierry Goldberg Gallery.

 

For more information please email or call the gallery at + 1. 212.228.7569 or info@thierrygoldberg.com.