Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks
Installation View
Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles, 2020
Georgina Gratrix
28 March, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
30 March, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
31 March, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
1 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
2 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
3 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
4 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
5 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
6 April (Potato Head), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
7 April (Return of Potato Head), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
8 April (Rose Quartz), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
9 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
10 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
11 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
12 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
13 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
14 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
15 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
16 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
17 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
19 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
20 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
21 April (Matthew's Choice), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
22 April, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
23 April (Zoom Face), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
24 April (Leveled Out), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
25 April (Woolies Look), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
26 April (A Monologue), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
27 April (Athleisure Wear), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
28 April (Sitting like a Pudding), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
29 April (No Pants), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
30 April (When someone smokes a zol on TV), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
1 May (Mask for State Sanctioned Stroll), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
2 May (Looking at too many memes), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
3 May (Starting to look like those around me), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
4 May (My feelings regarding pineapple beer), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
5 May (Dreaming of Hairdresser Hair), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
6 May (Rave Face), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
7 May (A Dry Clean Look Only), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
8 May (The Argument), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
9 May (Where's my Jumper?), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
10 May (Mascara Lashes), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
11 May (Shopping Attire), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
12 May (Melding), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
13 May (A Family Affair), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
14 May (Feeling Beautiful), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
15 May (Lipstick for Breakfast), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
16 May (Talking to myself in my best pajamas), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
17 May (Going a bit mental), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
18 May (Morning), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
19 May (No. 51), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
20 May (Masked and Modern), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
21 May (tbt Teenager), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
22 May (Did someone say it's Friyay?), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
23 May (Me in the year 2030 at a bar), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
24 May (Sunday Face), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
25 May, 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
26 May (Modern with a relaxed feel), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
27 May (Washed Out), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
28 May (A Head for Walking), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
29 May (The Clown), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
30 May (Feeling Cute), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix
31 May (The Last One), 2020
watercolor on paper
16.5 x 11.8 in
42 x 30 cm
Georgina Gratrix: The Pleasure is Mine and Georgina Gratrix: Nine Weeks are the South African artist’s first solo exhibitions Stateside.
For Nine Weeks, Gratrix turns the focus onto herself. One work in sixty-three parts, the piece consists entirely of a series of one-completed-daily watercolor self-portraits created during South Africa’s military-enforced quarantine. Implemented as an instagram project as a means of connecting to the outside world—leaving the house, even for a walk was forbidden by law except during state-sanctioned times dictated by the government—the titles of each day’s work on paper offer first-person views of a somewhat universal experience. Taken as a whole, the artist’s portraits are a maddening glimpse at the evolution of identity under quarantine.
Georgina Gratrix (b. 1982, Mexico City, Mexico) grew up in Durban, South Africa. She studied at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, and graduated in 2005, specializing in painting. She was recently awarded the Discovery Prize at the 50th Anniversary edition of Art Brussels, for her presentation with SMAC Gallery. Gratrix is a recipient of the Ampersand Fellowship Award and completed her residency at the Ampersand Foundation in New York City in 2018.
Recent exhibitions include Recent Acquisitions by the Homestead Collection, Norval Foundation, Cape Town (2020); Hollywood Babylon, Jeffrey Deitch, Nicodim Gallery, and AUTRE Magazine, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Skin Stealers, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); Punch, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, (2019); Everybody loves the sunshine, Plus One Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium (2018); On Repeat, SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa (2017, solo); Puppy Love, SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa (2016, solo); and Thinking, Feeling, Head, Heart, curated by Marilyn Martin, New Church Museum, Cape Town, South Africa (2015).
Georgina Gratrix’s figures and still-lifes have a gloopy impasto paint application. The faces of her figures ride a line between comical and slightly disturbing. Swabs of thick paint fold into disfigured personhood: melting noses, multiple sets of eyes, large textural gashes across cheeks. Some even have googly eyes embedded in the thick paint. Many of the paintings are intimate self-portraits or paintings of loved ones, but unlikely celebrities, politicians, and athletes including Scottie Pippen — appear in the mix.
Going to Nicodim Gallery to see the solo exhibition of South African artist Georgina Gratrix (b. 1982), I didn’t expect to admire and giggle at her heavy impasto paintings, that grabbed my attention with its bursting energy. None of the people the artist chose to portray look attractive or smart, instead they’re caricatures of themselves. They come across as cheeky, playful and surprisingly charming portraits of possibly Georgina Gratrix’s friends and family?!
