Lisa Yuskavage has titillated viewers with paintings of naughty and pneumatic nudes since the early 1990s, when she emerged as part of a generation of young painters fresh from Yale University’s MFA program. Nearly three decades on, the artist continues to stick with her trademark mix of kitsch, softcore porn, fantasy and classicism, which is often put in the service of depicting buoyant breasts and rounded rears promising an Eden of unbridled sex. These pre-lapsarian visions are at once cynical and sincere, but they are part and parcel of Yuskavage’s aim of throwing the male gaze for a loop by leveraging its art-historical weight against itself. Yuskavage’s double show at David Zwirner is true to form, with new paintings at the gallery’s uptown location and a survey of small canvases created over 30 years at its Chelsea space.
Lisa Yuskavage, “Babie Brood: Small Paintings 1985–2018” is concurrently on view at David Zwirner, 533 W 19th St