Gail Stoicheff
Icons, 2012-2013

After completing her Masters degree at Bard, Stoicheff made the unlikely decision to begin incorporating imagery into her nonobjective work. Not one for baby steps, she began to produce imagery at the same large scale in which she had been working abstractly. Relearning the language of image-making, the works were decidedly graphic at the beginning becoming more painterly and precise with time. In both object and subject, Stoicheff sought vessels of cultural power that have customarily indicated status, mythologized heroes and expressed national pride. She flips this convention by focusing not only on the heroic, but also on the villainous.

Vladie Putin (Pussy Riot_1), 2012, oil on canvas

Rottie (Pussy Riot_3), 2013, oil on canvas, 54 × 46 in

Pussy (Pussy Riot_2), 2013, oil on canvas

Punk Rich, 2013, oil on canvas and wall, plaster, installation, 80 × 80 in | 203 × 203 cm

Sid as St. Sebastian, 2013, oil on canvas, 80 × 80 in | 203 × 203 cm

Buddah, 2013, oil on canvas, 50 × 40 in

Hoodwink, 2013, oil on canvas, 50 × 40 in | 127 × 101 cm

Washington 7, 2008, oil and spray paint on canvas, 14 × 11 in | 35 × 28 cm

geo halo, 2008, oil, acrylic and spray on canvas, 24 × 20 in | 61 × 51 cm

joker mummy, 2011, oil on canvas

joker version 2, 2009, oil and acrylic on canvas, 53 × 48 in | 134 × 122 cm