Amanda Wall’s debut solo show, “JUICY” at The Cabin entices us into the intimate gallery. The exhibition space, which is in fact a small cottage-like structure in the backyard of artist and collector Danny First’s residence, immediately evokes a sense of casual closeness between the viewer and the work. One must walk through a side gate into the backyard to access the gallery space, as if visiting a close companion.

The Cabin sits at one end of a large yard and its strategically opened door draws the eye towards a painting of a larger-than-life female figure encompassed in a neon glow, BABY NEW YEAR (all works 2020). Silver confetti falls around her as she reclines, her feet extended forward and towards the viewer, with one sock on and the other seemingly missing. She remains aloof, feminine and provoking. With a nonchalant demeanor and flexible form, she summons us into the quaint space of the Cabin.

Amanda Wall. BENT, 2020. Courtesy The Cabin.

In all of the works, Wall utilizes vibrant hues and energetic brushstrokes, giving a sense of enthusiastic urgency. She combines graphic shapes and colors, with aspects of figures remaining only partially defined, engaging and challenging our sense of the figure as certain edges of arms, legs, and faces dissipate, grabbing our attention and then slowing us down with nuanced clarity to inspect further. For example, in BENT, the figure faces away from us, her torso completely folded over a chair while her legs are tangled in an impossible fashion, like that of a twisting barber pole. In Puddle, two figures interact as one stands above the other who has seemingly melted onto the floor, exploring provocative figurative abstraction as forms blur into backgrounds while other sections of the paintings remain crisp. Through this use of mark and subject matter, Wall creates an intriguing push and pull.

The show is “JUICY” in every sense: in PEACH, the figure sinks her teeth into the fruit, absorbed in its flesh with eyes wide shut, unaware and seemingly unconcerned with anything else. SHOWERER, 2020 depicts a man standing exposed and naked in the center of the composition, yet his form remains blurred.

Wall’s generously playful images invite us to find comfort in the ability to distort and yet make sense. Her figures, depicted voyeuristically on display, never quite acknowledge us; each holds a mysterious secret—one so juicy it leaves you salivating for more.