Exhibition Work
THERE’S JUST NOTHING BETTER THAN A GOOD MARE
THERE’S JUST NOTHING BETTER THAN A GOOD MARE
G O O D M A R E
This collection includes several large format equestrian oil paintings created using an indirect painting style where layers are built up and meticulously refined over time. The horses are painted in a classically modern way and contrasted against a white textured background painted with a specific pattern of brushstrokes. A noticeable element that stands out in addition to the horses in these paintings is the incorporation of a particular renaissance halo and fractions of it into each piece. It is the Virgin Mary’s halo taken from a 15th century altarpiece called Adoration of the Magi (1423) by Gentile da Fabriano. The halos are unscripted with pseudo-Arabic script which was often used in that time on the halos of saints and Christian figures since it was thought that Arabic was the language of the Holy Land, however, most artists in Europe did not know Arabic so they made up fake Arabic lettering instead. The element of the halo in these works represents the saintliness of “good mares.”
The Birth of Vienna
The Birth of Vienna, after Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, is a parody painting celebrating the first painting of the artist's first horse she acquired in 2019 as a one-month-old filly. This is her horse’s “coming out into society” piece and conveys the importance of her arrival into the artist’s life, Iike a goddess being birthed out of the sea. It captures both the humorous yet equally beautiful journey they have had thus far.
Oil on canvas, 84” × 60” (2020)
Sculpture In Motion
Sculpture In Motion (oil on canvas, 100”x133” unframed) is a life-size equestrian work built on the concept of the horse as living, moving, art. Living sculptures that have breathed life into our mundane existence for thousands of years. Inspired by Calder’s thoughts on kinetics and sculpture, here the horse is seen as a moving “sculpture” in the artist’s eye. Dynamic, yet paused in time hovering over the ground as if forever in flight. Here the horse is freedom, strength, and power while also revealing to us the effortless grace that resides in the core of its being.
Oil on canvas, 100” × 133” (2019)
Steadfast
In 2017, Julie reached a milestone in creating her first life-sized equestrian painting Steadfast. That year, Steadfast was featured in a group exhibition at Spalding Nix Fine Art and sold to a private client in Doha, Qatar. The bond between horse and rider is unique and like no other. Inspired by the idea that they only choose us because we first chose them, Julie has the human hand reaching out to the horse, similar to the hand of God in The Creation of Adam. The horse’s obligation (or even desire) to obey and love humankind is a direct response to our continued dedication and kindness in caring for them—and creating a relationship with them built on trust, partnership, and provision.
Oil on Canvas, 100”x133” (2017)
