Donning big pinstripe suits, ties, hoop earrings and purple velvet boots, the cool, striking women in Coady Brown’s paintings cinematically glow in nightlife and domestic scenes; the artist plays with colored light, texture and proportion, the long limbs and strong hands of the subjects engulfing the canvases. While several still lifes of flower arrangements and handbags (adorned with rhinestone eyes and tears) allude to traditional symbols of femininity, the bold figures—some more androgynous than others—embody its fabulously wide range. With characters that will remind you of both Grace Jones and Weimar-era portraits, Brown has exquisitely depicted women who unabashedly take up space.

Shulamit Nazarian
616 N. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036