Chantae Elaine Wright: ‘The Cycle of Moments’

Personal and Powerful Work About Womanhood and Identity

Miami-based American artist Chantae Elaine Wright spent September in Los Angeles as part of  The La Brea Studio Artist Residency, where she completed a new body of oil paintings, The Cycle of Moments, that were on view at The Cabin LA. “My work is about womanhood, self-reflection, and vulnerability,” Wright said in a recent Instagram post.

The canvases are large works that feature women’s bodies on display, in motion, or as ghost-like presences haunting the canvases (and her dog makes a few cameos, as well). The paint is roughly applied in strong gestural motions over and surrounded by marks that can seem like scribbles or indicate hair or seem to speak to chaos, anger, or darkness.  If I had to describe Wright’s work in Hollywood argot, I would describe it as De Kooning meets Basquiat, by which I mean her work renders women, and the female work in thick gestures of paint, in ways that recall De Kooning’s famous paintings of Woman. However, the works also carry the energy of Basquiat’s works in the way the multiplicity of marks combine almost like an energy field. And there are more references to mine in Wright’s work – I saw flashes of Picasso and Francis Bacon, as well.

A Rose from the concrete

Wright is the latest artist to do a one-month residency at the Studio and then exhibit her work at The Cabin LA, a program that Danny First has initiated since 2015 that has become a unique program in L.A. for rising artists. First was originally in the T-shirt business in the 1980s and 1990s, making Danny First T-shirts with handmade and pop culture graphics, many of which are collected today as vintage pieces on Etsy.

However, as he told me recently, after a certain point, he was no longer enamored of the business and closed it. He retained his warehouse on La Brea transforming it into an art studio and living space. At the same time, First transformed part of his yard as an exhibition space, placing a smal, 180- square foot shed on the premises (which strangely enough has the same dimensions as the Unabomber’s cabin) as well as a downstairs, bunker-like exhibition space which one can visit by appointment.

Women of Leisure

First finds the artists by word of mouth and sometimes online through their Instagram accounts. Most don’t have gallery representation in Los Angeles and are eager to visit the city. The works on display are for sale (often at very reasonable prices). First acts as art dealer – which actually is good for the artists, exposing them to his network of collectors, as well as helping them establish credibility in the marketplace.

First is also an artist himself, making sculptures, but he is modest about it. “I tried painting  and failed completely.”But his sculptures are witty and engaging, not unlike First himself. Many of the more than 100 artists that First has exhibited have gone to have prominent careers, including Amaoko Boafo, Tschabalala Self, and Genevieve Gaignard. In this exhibition, you get to see an artist, Chantae Elaine Wright, making personal and powerful work about womanhood and identity.

Cover image: 3 Nudes in the park; all images courtesy The Cabin LA