Food of Light

CANADA 331
February 4 - March 12, 2017
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 4, 6-8 PM

In Bella Foster’s exhibition Food of Light at CANADA 331, twenty new paintings are presented, each one a miniature tribute, the size of a reproduction in a coffee table book. Rendered in watercolor on paper, Foster’s compositions possess an intensity that seems to defy the medium. The imagery is not loaded, per se, but it does pay mind to politics and awareness. 

Every painting is a collection of memories and keepsakes, symbolic of sharing and friendship, the bond we feel with others, the desire towards protection.  When I was a child my mom gave me a used contact lens in a tiny glass vile that I kept as a pet. The more ephemeral a thing, the more it can bestow on you its magical properties from its other existence.  We care so much about objects but that is only because they allow us to. We need to care about something, to feel connected, grounded, alive.  Foster’s works are a metaphor for the humble beauty of world history, told through a feminist lens.  What is it about small things and color, the tracing of soft lines to describe a talisman, a rainbow, a length of yarn that is so maternal?  It has to do with creation. With caring about what you bring into the world and being positive.

In these challenging times we take comfort in beauty, in symbols. The signs of the march, the indisputable message of love. Leading with kindness rather than insults. A broken pencil, the spine of a book. These things are vulnerable and dependent on our care as we bring them into being, and re-bring them again through art. Foster favors objects of knowledge, color field studies, fertility statues, books, vessels, fruits, textiles, artworks.  Her tender compositions express a dedicated study and appreciation for secular things.  A tenderness for the every day and a contemplation for every moment.

Bella Foster (b.1975, Los Angeles, CA) received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York. Her work has been exhibited at Venus Over Manhattan, Los Angeles; White Columns, NY; South Willard, Los Angeles, and in CANADA's 2016 Frieze NY booth, curated by Katherine Bernhardt. Foster lives and works in Los Angeles.