Eleanor Swordy
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Within her paintings, Eleanor Swordy’s figuration extends beyond the role of subject into imaginatively repurposed formal devices. Dynamically shaped bodies circle the space, eschewing conventional anatomy, perspective or scale. Rather, they ground the composition, conforming to each paintings’ inner architecture and indicating a path for the viewers’ eye to travel across the picture plane. As if pushed by a magnetic force, objects and figures become compressed toward the outer edges of the frame, reminding us of the medium’s essential fluidity and finitude.
Swordy’s emphasis on formal clarity and compositional cohesion allows her to draw broadly from the medium’s rich history; mining subject matter that is deep in meaning but reads as generous, inclusive, and optimistic. Often, historical antecedents are contended with as riddles to be solved. Swordy mines the past for her own purpose–the creation of paintings that function as both discrete images and scenes from a parallel realm.
Swordy’s drawings approach form and figure in a manner that is distinct and divergent from the paintings, building a conceptual appendage within her practice. Across both media, she frequently approaches imagery as ductile and essentially unencumbered by anatomical or perspectival orthodoxy. Figures within the paintings typically define their surroundings, the forceful presence of their shapes exerting a gravitational pull on the overall image. Within the drawings, the negative space of the page encompasses the figure and objects, suggesting an unseen force beneath the surface. In effect, these voids become participatory in the composition; united by the paper itself, drawn subjects appear fluid, as though one figure might slip into the next image, extending the artist’s ever-expanding universe.
Eleanor Swordy (b. 1987, Paris, France) received her BFA from The Cooper Union. Her work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Moskowitz Bayse in Los Angeles, Galerie Max Hetzler in London, and The Journal Gallery in New York. Her work has been included in group presentations at Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin and Paris, Marianne Boesky Gallery, James Fuentes, Harper’s, and The Hand in New York, EXPO in Chicago, and TYS Gallery in Copenhagen. Her works were featured in both the 2012 and 2010 Brucennial exhibitions, organized by the Bruce High Quality Foundation. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.