How humans interact with and are affected by their environs has been a subject of study and interest for centuries—and is the focus of the current solo show presented by Almine Rech, “Genieve Figgis: Unearthly Pursuits.”

Staged at the gallery’s Venice location within the historic Palazzo Cavanis, the exhibition features a new body of work wherein Figgis explores the intricate and nuanced quotidian moments of everyday life, more specifically, the minute choices people make and how they are influenced by time period, locale, or other people. Using the city of Venice itself as a starting point, Figgis crafts vignettes and scenes that allude to scenarios or narratives that only coalesce when considering both the environment and figures together, creating a type of reciprocity that homes in on the core theme of the show.

Genieve Figgis, Family with a Boat (2024). Photo: Photo: Melissa Castro Duarte. Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech.

Figgis began her career largely via social media, and the saturated, sometimes even garish, color choices reflect the aesthetics of contemporary digital media via the traditional medium of painting. Recognized for her use of heavy paint application, unexpected palettes, and an almost ghoulish sensibility, Figgis’s signature creative vision remains at the fore within “Unearthly Pursuits.” In works like Lady at the Window (2024), or Family with a Boat (2024), skin tones are executed in shocking shades of blue or green and facial features are rendered in uncanny arrangements. Coupled with otherworldly depictions of the local landscape and cityscape, Figgis’s compositions teeter on the edge of recognizability.

Genieve Figgis, Lady at the Window (2024). Photo: Photo: Melissa Castro Duarte. Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech.

Another compelling facet of “Unearthly Pursuits” is the unsteady use of time. Because Venice and traditional Venetian architecture inherently convey a sense of the historic, making identifying the compositions as contemporary or of the past. A gondola gliding by a row of palazzos is as common an occurrence today as it was a century ago, such as can be seen in Trip to Venice (2024), but returning to Lady at the Window the figures dress suggests a time gone by. Executed with liberal amounts of pigment and clear brushstrokes, the questions surrounding time, place, individuals, and the influence between them take on a tactile quality.

Genieve Figgis, Entry Into Venice (2024). Photo: Photo: Melissa Castro Duarte. Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech.

Writing for the show, Curator Elisa De Wyngaert of the MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp said, “Genieve Figgis trusts paint to run unpredictably over the canvas, allowing an unconscious and rebellious process to occur. She embraces deformations, fluidity, and innocence, the exciting thrill of possible failure. As her figures are rendered freely in paint, she sets them free, revealing their unrestrained, unconventional and fantastical nature. In her world, one can exist without judgment. We look on as her figures appear, seduce, and perform harmoniously in a reality where dogmatic expectations and ideals dissolve, allowing individuality, humor and strangeness to reign.”

“Genieve Figgis: Unearthly Pursuits” is on view at Almine Rech, Palazzo Cavanis, Venice, through December 1, 2024.