Description:

Queen Matilda
2008
acrylic on four panels
173 x 452 cm (68 x 178 in.)
unframed
signed lower right

PROVENANCE
Acquired at Graffiti Gone Global Exhibition by SUSHISAMBA

EXHIBITION
Woodward Gallery Project Space, NYC, Lady Pink mural, June – August 2009. [stamp on verso]
Graffiti Gone Global by SUSHISAMBA, Miami, December 3-6, 2009

LITERATURE
James and Karla Murray Graffiti Gone Global by SUSHISAMBA (2009), ex. cat., p. 27 (illustrated)

LOT NOTES
Queen Matilda by Lady Pink is not only a visually vibrant work in the artists quintessential style for which she is most known, synopsistic of Sandra Fubaras oeuvre, but the painting is also a window into the life of the artist, her values, and her life as a young artist in the emerging street art movement in New York City in 1980s.

To be more specific, the street art movement was centered in New York City's East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The East Village is represented in the painting through use of the logos from some of the city's most popular hangouts among counterculture youth -- fertile breeding grounds for creativity that were frequented by the likes of Harring, Basquiat, and a litany of punk and folk musicians. In Queen Matilda, one can see the logos of -- among others -- CBGB, one of the city's most iconic music clubs, the birthplace of punk music and previously a biker bar, and Gem Spa, perhaps the East Village's most iconic corner store, located on St. Marks Place since the 1920s selling newspapers, candy, and one of the pioneers of the Egg Cream, a beverage synonymous with New York City. The logos of such establishments, and the East Village-scaled street seen in the bottom half of the painting, demonstrate the cultural mecca that this neighborhood came to be, and its influence on Lady Pink.

Lady Pink often depicts architectural forms in her work. Occasionally, these forms personify a female figure like that of the large form made of pink brick that can be seen as the centerpiece in Queen Matilda. Lady Pinks artistic journey started with graffiti; she became a known member of the tagging scene in New York City and gained acclaim for her work. At the time, there were very few female graffiti artists. In her work, the female form and an overall message of female empowerment can be often seen. In Queen Matilda the architectural, female form shows the city itself as a living, nurturing entity - and emphasizes the role the city played for Lady Pinks upbringing, and the role women play as the backbone of societies overall. One can also see a train running through the city, emerging from behind the female figure on the right side of the work -- an allusion to her artistic beginnings tagging subway trains prior to her finding fame in the fine arts world.

This painting showcases Lady Pinks roots, like the roots seen tangled over the head of the female figure the painting is centered around. This work, like the neighborhood Lady Pink hails from, is colorful, fertile, and magical. Perhaps most notably, it is hard to discern whether the work should be seen as solely an ode to the neighborhood the artist calls home, or something of a self portrait as well. As is true with so many now-ubiquitous artists, there would likely not be a Lady Pink were it not for New York City’s East Village.

CONDITION
The group appears in good condition. Minor scattered scuffing to the lower right of the panels with lettering Mendel. Minor cracking and lifting along of the lower edges of the one with the lettering Spa. Each with minor losses to the corners and edges consistent with age. Inspection under UV shows no apparent signs of restoration.

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