Figures, Grounds

Western Exhibitions is thrilled to present Figures, Grounds, with work from Dan Attoe, Elijah Burgher, Julia Schmitt Healy, Leasho Johnson, Robyn O’Neil, Lauren Roche, and Frances Waite. Whether viewing them as landscapes with figures or as figures in landscapes, the bodies in this show beg you to ask their origin story: Where did they come from? Why are they where they are? Where do they want to be? Is this their end or the beginning? Why are we here and for how long? Figures, Grounds opens with a public reception on Friday, March 11, from 5 to 7 pm, and will run through April 23, 2022. The gallery will be open late on Friday, April 8 as part of EXPO Chicago’s Art After Hours program, until 8pm.

Dan Attoe’s miniature humans disrupt his depictions of natural wonders. Spouting diaristic missives, meticulously painted in silver, Attoe’s people further assert their presence despite their microscopic scale.

Drawing from mythology, ancient history, the occult, ritual magic, Elijah Burgher works at the crossroads of representation and language, figuration, abstraction and the real and imagined. His figurative drawings often feature his friends and reimage scenes from ancient myth.

Julia Schmitt Healy’s early work is instantly recognizable as coming from the bustling Chicago Imagist scene of the early 1970s. Stuffed, quilted, and finished off with zits, bandages, hair, and buttons, Healy’s characters grapple with all of life’s pleasures and absurdities.

Working across a wide variety of mediums, Leasho Johnson uses his experience growing up black, queer, and male to explore concepts around forming identity and the postcolonial condition. Born from layer upon layer of charcoal blended seamlessly with brushy strokes of painted colour, Johnson’s matte black silhouettes stand starkly against atmospheric colourfields, their heads racing and stoic.

Robyn O’Neil’s precisely drawn graphite landscapes investigate evolution, apocalypse, natural disaster, and extinction with imagined imagery that is surreal and separate from the flow of time. Personal narratives are embedded into symbolism and suggested in titles, often hinting at apocalypse without ever being fully explained.

Lauren Roche’s nude female figures interact with twisted animals among textured planes draped auras. Among their flush environment, Roche’s figures and animals tend to each other, peacefully lounging, snarling, bleeding, and existing.

Frances Waite renders horny apocalyptic meltdowns in her photorealistic graphite drawings. Her women stand by as their worlds crumble around them, living and finding simple pleasure despite chaos and waste.

Artist bios:

Dan Attoe (1975, Bremerton, WA) grew up in parts of Washington, Idaho, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and now lives and works in Washougal, Washington. Attoe recently showed new neon wall drawings at The Hole in New York City (closing March 18) and had a solo show with Western Exhibitions in November 2021. He received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin in 1998, his MFA from the University of Iowa in 2004 and is represented by Western Exhibitions in Chicago.

Elijah Burgher’s (1978, Kingston, NY) work was shown in the 2014 Whitney Biennial. He received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute, Chicago and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. Elijah Burgher is represented by Western Exhibitions in Chicago, Horton Gallery in Dallas, Ivan Gallery in Bucharest, and P.P.O.W in New York City, where he had his first solo show with them in November 2021. He lives and works in Berlin.

Julia Schmitt Healy (1947, Elmhurst, IL) received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1972, where she studied with Ray Yoshida and Whitney Halsted. The Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse NY recently acquired two of her signature tufted portraits from the 1970s, and she will have her second solo show with Western Exhibitions this summer. Presently she divides her time between a Manhattan apartment in the East Village and a house/studio in Port Jervis, New York.

Leasho Johnson (1984, Montego Bay, Jamaica) received his BFA in Visual communication & graphic design from the Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing arts. Johnson splits his time between Jamaica and Chicago and his work will be shown by Tern Gallery from Nassau, The Bahamas, at EXPO Chicago in April.

Robyn O’Neil’s (1977, Omaha, NE) work was shown in the 2004 Whitney Biennial. She received her BFA from Texas A&M Commerce. O’Neil has an upcoming show at Susan Inglett Gallery in New York in April, where she will be showing her largest drawing to date. She currently lives and works in northern Washington State and hosts the popular podcast, “Me Reading Stuff.”

Lauren Roche (Santa Rosa, CA) is a self-taught artist who lives and works in Minneapolis, MN. Roche cites the magical realist novels of Murakami and Kathy Acker’s punk poetry as influential to her practice. She has an upcoming show with Sean Horton (Presents) in New York City this spring.

Frances Waite (1993, Rochester, NY) is an alumnus of Pratt Institute in New York where she received her BFA. In 2021 she had solo shows at Setareh in Düsseldorf, Germany, Elijah Wheat Showroom in Newburgh, NY and was featured on David Zwirner’s Platform. She lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.