Part of the second installment of Women: The Blacklight Paintings by Ryan McGinness (read our interview with him about the project here). Following the success of the premiere of the project during Art Basel Miami Beach, McGinness again takes over a unique venue for an event-based exhibition concurrent with the Armory Show. In this incarnation, Le Bain at The Standard is the site for the installation of four canvases in the Women series and a full-scale vinyl and blacklight installation transforming several spaces in The Standard and extending into the 13th Street storefront. Once again, painted dancers will take center stage during a one-night event creating a dynamic interaction between the canvases and their environment. 

The Women paintings, and all subsequent work from this series, are based on figure drawings of over 65 models completed during sittings with the artist over the past year. McGinness writes: 

“This new body of work is a continuation of my established and disciplined image-making that strives to employ the aesthetic of the anonymously created universal sign symbol. Two parallel desires drive these new Women drawings: My desire to simplify and iconify the underlying visually logical geometries inherent in my figure drawings in order to better understand my subject matter; and my desire to embrace and capture the purely aesthetic experience of graceful curves and sensual forms inherent in my models. These drawings are my version of what is sexy. Yes, the women are sexy, but moreover, the drawings are sexier—beautiful, stark, and perfectly composed according to my eye. I am more attracted to these drawings than I am to the women who make them possible.”

Ryan McGinness received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University. The artist lives and works in New York.