JOHN WESLEY | BROWN WOMAN IN HALF SLIP

John Wesley is recognized for his large-format depictions of bodies and cartoon characters, rendered with a signature flatness and limited color range. His work does not define easy categorization: while containing many of the emblems of Pop art, his style is akin to Minimalism. Indeed, his closest personal associations were with artists such as Dan Flavin and Donald Judd. Judd would later pen a laudatory essay on Wesley’s work and set aside a space for him at his complex in Marfa, Texas. Wesley himself considers his work to be aligned with Surrealism.

The present work displays a close-up of female nude, with her undergarments and his signature blue accenting the work at opposing ends of the canvas. Wesley has had career retrospectives at MoMA PS1, New York in 2000 and at the Fondazione Prada, Venice in 2009.