Raptured
Leeanne Maxey

Please join us Friday, October 11th, 6 – 8 pm for the opening of Raptured by Leeanne Maxey.

Opening reception: October 11th, 6PM-8PM
On view: October 11th - 12th, 2019
Gallery Hours: by appointment: leeannemaxey@gmail.com
25 Park Pl. 3 Fl.
New York 10007

Raptured includes new work created by Leeanne Maxey during her time as a guest resident at Hercules. In each painting, Maxey toys with the christian notion of (perpetually) living in “the last days” preceding the rapture, a biblical event that looms over many an American childhood. This prophesied occurrence is said to entail the sudden vanishing of all Christ’s followers, both living and dead. The tale has inspired and turned a profit for many, which Maxey references in her painting Behind.

Maxey alludes to childhood fantasy by painting from still lifes composed of felt pieces, calling attention to the malleability of such stories. Raised by evangelical Pentecostals in Arkansas, her work addresses organized religion and fundamentalist beliefs through a queer lens. Felt board stories used for children’s Sunday School classes are a major visual source and muse for Maxey’s current work, and she creates her own cut pieces to tell new, often ambiguous stories that relate to longstanding myths and contemporary narratives alike.

Leeanne Maxey lives and works in Brooklyn. Her work has been exhibited in New York and Hudson, NY; Baltimore, MD; Richmond, VA; Boston, MA; and the Arkansas Arts Center. Recent exhibitions include The Bureau of General Services: Queer Division, NYC; and a two-person exhibition in the 2019 SPRING/BREAK Art Show, NYC. She is a proud alumni of the Fire Island Artist Residency. Her work is in the Rare Books Collection at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, and awards include the Kahn Career Entry Award. She received her MFA from Boston University and her BFA from the University of Central Arkansas, and she currently teaches painting at Brooklyn College.

"Behind", Watercolor on paper, 19.75 x 7.75 inches