M+B is pleased to present an introduction to s/heness society, an exhibition of new works by Shanna Waddell. This is the artist's first solo show with the gallery. The exhibition opens April 9, 2022 and will run through May 14, 2022, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 9 from 6 to 8 pm.
Welcome to s/heness society. Shanna Waddell invites you into the initial exhibition of her flourishing world, brimming with lush color, sumptuous gardens, awe-inspiring coastal scenes, and ethereal feminine figures.
Shanna Waddell: an introduction to s/heness society, debuts Waddell’s new project in world-building through a series of works that depicts a self-sustaining flower farm artist commune. Waddell’s paintings demonstrate a fantastical otherworld, one that is both whimsical and utterly alluring, thrusting us into an imagined utopian artist commune. Across the canvases, Waddell chronicles the day-to-day enterprises of her artist collective: flower-farming, plein-air moonset painting, gathering supplies, utilizing the community wagons, and generally existing in a state of tranquility.
Waddell’s figures, feminine in their forms though not determinately female, take the form of vessels. As if being incubated, the figures seem to wander in their enchanting unique landscape. This is a genesis moment, a witnessing of Waddell’s creation of a new universe, one in which a collective spirit takes precedent, gesturing toward an ethics of a peaceful return to an original concept of anarchism.
Rooted in an ethics of care, s/heness society, for Waddell is an alternate way of living, one that is based on caring for nature and the land as well as each other. In contrast to the extensive historical example of a masculinist structure of governance, the members of s/heness society have put into practice a community that embraces a collective spirit, collaboration, and harmony.
In Waddell’s aestheticism, beauty is underscored as an apparatus for propelling us beyond hegemonic modes of thought. In Waddell’s paintings, beauty is employed to seduce us into a sublime space of pure whimsy–the floral landscapes become all-encompassing and glimmer into patterns that evoke a purposeful decorative function, transmitting a state of the ethics of s/heness society.
For Waddell, the project of world-building is both seriously playful and utterly imperative. This artist commune is both an exercise in imagination and also a contemplation in dialogue with models of art history and art-making. Waddell absorbs and adapts the primarily masculine modes of painting with pure freedom and interjects her spirit with a creative fearless feminine fortitude.
Shanna Waddell (b. 1981, Long Beach, CA) received an MFA in Drawing and Painting from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, and a BFA in Drawing and Painting from the California State University, Long Beach. Selected solo and group exhibitions include Thomas Erben Gallery, NY; Galerie La Croix, Art Center College of Design, LA; Ms. Barbers, Los Angeles; SPF 15, San Diego; QUEENS, LA, University of the Arts, Philadelphia; Harkawik, NY; and BOZOMAG, LA. This is the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery. Shanna Waddell lives and works in Los Angeles. @shenesssociety
Location: M+B, 612 North Almont Drive, Los Angeles, California 90069
Show Title: Shanna Waddell: an introduction to s/heness society
Exhibition Dates: April 9 – May 14, 2022
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 9, 6 – 8 pm
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm
Social Media: @mblosangeles @shenesssociety
For all inquires, please contact info@mbart.com.