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Catch the Heavenly Bodies

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Jay Miriam’s first solo show in New York, “Catch the Heavenly Bodies,” opens tonight at Half Gallery. “I think there’s something strange going on right now,” Miriam, who paints from memory, told Adult Magazine last year: “People aren’t okay with being ordinary. I think that sentiment has existed for a long time, but it feels really amplified right now with social media and our online culture, where everyone’s competing for attention, and even being normal is a trend. I don’t see ordinariness as negative. The characters in the paintings can be anyone. Even though I like painting women, they’re not necessarily defined as women … Now everyone is so aware of their behavior and how it looks to others, and there’s not the same freedom in our bodies.” 

Jay Miriam, Fountain of Youth, 2016, oil on linen, 64″ x 50″.

 

Sweeping the Broom Closet, 2016, oil on linen, 50″ x 38″

Applying Coconut Oil, 2016, oil on linen, 50″ x 38″.

Yellow Pigeon and Witch, 2016, oil on linen, 68″ x 52″.