Thierry Goldberg Gallery is pleased to present As Good As It Gets, the second solo exhibition of Natalie Terenzini. The exhibition opens on September 8th, with a reception from 6-8pm and will run through October 7, 2023.
Natalie Terenzini traverses the landscape of femininity, earnestly rendering the uncomfortable vulnerabilities that come with it. Deploying depictions of her own alter ego, she provides an unflinching lens into her subject's emotional and corporeal being. Her works entice the viewer into the uncomfortably familiar rituals and dynamics of womanhood in all of its raw, awkward agony. Each painting revels in unusual moments of liminality: half-burnt cigarettes, hair pulled taunt by tweezers, impending sexual disappointment. Her canvases become snapshots of a melancholic, relatable character who synthesizes the interplay between expectations and realities within feminine yearning.
As Good As It Gets explores the ceaseless tango between lust and unfulfillment within the female experience. Defying the constraints of linear storytelling, Terenzini arranges her paintings as a mosaic of vignettes, capturing the subject's oscillation between the fervor of desire and the sting of reproach. This orchestration yields a psychological character study, where she permits her alternate self to inhabit various roles- lover, loner, mother, smoker. Through this exhibition, a multi-dimensional portrait emerges, illuminating the cognitive paradoxes that desire etches within the subject and, by extension, within the viewer's own psyche.
Terenzini's style orchestrates an intricate reciprocity between form and subject, channeling a compelling emotive resonance through her artworks. 'Looking Back, 2023' exemplifies this synergy, as color, spatial composition, and lighting coalesce to forge an invented, unreal reality. These elements converge under her masterful hand, reframing the viewer's perception and inviting them to explore her alluring realm of emotional realism.
"Lonely with Pillow, 2023" investigates this dichotomy through an interrogation of body and space. The subject is depicted masturbating on a pillow while wearily looking back at the viewer. The fleshiness of her body is illuminated by dim sunset light flooding through an open window behind her. Her skin, a murky mustard, almost camouflages her into the walls around her, an inhuming extension of her own dissatisfaction and self-awareness.
The eponymous painting of this exhibition, "As Good as it Gets, 2023," continues the exploration of lust; this work depicts a moment of mentally disenchanted and physically senseless sex. An archetypal, nondescript male figure looms over the alter ego, her leg draped over his shoulder. Both figures, painted in matching red hues, return vacant gazes to the viewer, conjuring a paradoxical aura of despondency amidst supposed euphoria. This disjointed physicality starkly interrogates the emotional detachment that often resides in moments of purported bliss.
Terenzini's As Good as it Gets brilliantly crafts a captivating world that invites emotional reflection and empathy. Through this exhibition, she offers a profound thesis about the social myth of femininity and its mediation of the lived female experience. With a virtuoso's hand, she captures the very essence of a universal feminine disillusionment upon her canvases. Yet, she does so with a judiciousness that resonates with validation and compassion, crafting an array of works that serve as a sanctuary for commiseration.
Natalie Terenzini (b. 1996, San Diego, CA) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She holds an MFA from the New York Academy of Art, and a BFA from the Laguna College of Art + Design. Terenzini has participated in exhibitions at Thierry Goldberg , New York, NY; Vin Vin, Vienna, Austria; Kutlesa, Goldau, Switzerland; PM/AM, London, UK; Monya Rowe, New York; and LIA programme, Leipzig, Germany, among others. This is her second solo show with Thierry Goldberg.
For more information, please call or email the gallery at +1.212.228.7569 or info@thierrygoldberg.com