Photographed by: Dario Lasagni

To quote Carole King from her “Tapestry” album, Judith Simonian’s paintings create a “wondr’ous woven magic.” They are lush (and plush!) invented journeys which give the viewer a glimpse at another place, while hinting at the presence of the artist. By inserting beautifully crafted passages of paint and calling to mind the artist’s palette, Simonian reminds us of how much we carry our past experiences wherever we go next.

These narrative works are also imbued with a mysterious shifting of perspective and a change of scale and pace that is echoed by the materiality of the paint—some areas are quickly brushed in, while others include precise linear details. Simonian’s work appeals to all of our senses; we can almost taste, touch and smell the air vibrating or the water sparkling. There is a hint of optimism suggesting that by carefully looking inside ourselves and out into the world beyond, we can find a way to travel to a more enchanted and magical universe.

In the catalog of Simonian’s 2011 show at Edward Thorp Gallery, the painter and critic Stephen Maine perfectly captures the exhibited paintings: “. . . Simonian lifts the curtain on her studio thinking and allows a glimpse of the sifting, shuffling and shifting, the conflations and calibrations that go into her evocations of place and mood.” This was true in 2011 and is still true today. Simonian is a masterful painter whose ease and facility with the medium belie the deeper personal and universal meanings she communicates. We hope this mini retrospective helps bring her work to the broad audience it so richly deserves.

Heskin Projects, September 2022
Elizabeth Heskin, Tracey Ravdin Perlmutter and Patricia Spergel

Please contact Elizabeth Heskin at eheskin@gmail.com to schedule an appointment and for further information.

Judith Simonian was born in Los Angeles, CA where she received an MA and BA from California State University, Northridge. She began her career during the emerging 1980s downtown Los Angeles art scene before moving to New York City in 1985.

She lives and works in NYC and has exhibited her work in galleries and museums throughout the US and internationally including: The New Museum, NYC, MoMA/PS1, NYC, Islip Museum, NY, Montclair Art Museum, NJ, Weatherspoon Art Museum, NC, San Francisco Museum of Art, CA, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA, Newport Harbor Art Museum, CA, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, WI, and The Seibu Museum in Japan. She is included in the permanent collections of many institutions including The Broad Art Foundation in Paris, France, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, Orange County Museum of Art, CA, Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, UCLA/Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Fresno Art Museum, CA., and the University of Southern California, Fisher Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

Simonian has been awarded many prestigious honors throughout her career including: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts Grant, and California Confederation of the Arts Grant. She was a residency fellow at BAU Institute in Cassis France (and received The Anne Chu Award), Dora Maar House in Menerbe, France, Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY, MacDowell Colony Fellowship, Peterborough, NH, Blue Mountain Center, Blue Mountain Lake, NY.