Works like 'China Chalet' and 'Wojak Battle Scene' show why Singer has her paintbrush on the pulse.
For her debut exhibition at Hauser & Wirth, New York City-based artist Avery Singer has cemented her place as one of the most in-demand young artists working today—and, at 34, the youngest artist on the blue-chip gallery’s roster.
Singer’s series of 14 paintings line the walls of the gallery’s second- and fifth-floor and show off the Singer’s deft blending of analog and digital, combining disparate narratives and themes. A bona fide art star whose work has been heralded at the Venice Biennale and is coveted at auction, Singer has clearly hit her stride.
In the works on view, some of which are noted as being “studies,” Singer’s intensive, layered process is clear. Each canvas becomes a portal to tapping into the hive mind, where references to art history and internet memes sit cheek to jowl, and it’s easy to imagine references to artists as diverse as Keith Haring and M.C. Escher, Bunny Rogers and Sarah Sze, Julie Mehretu and Giorgio Morandi buzzing about.
One of the new works, China Chalet (2021), eulogizes the erstwhile “unassuming dim sum restaurant” that doubled as a sweaty den of iniquity for the young and restless denizens of lower Manhattan. The fractured work has a lot of White Claw cans, iPhones, and what looks to be a prescription pill bottle.
Avery Singer, China Chalet (2021). Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin.© Avery Singer Photo: Lance Brewer.
Another work, titled Wojak Battle Scene, features the meme-ified Feels Guy, a sad bald man who entered a certain corner of Internet culture in the early 2010s.
According to former Artnet News columnist Nate Freeman, Singer’s larger canvases carried a price tag of a cool $1.2 million. Singer remains the most expensive millennial artist—and Marc Payot told Vanity Fair that interest remains high, noting “it’s not a question of if we sell but when we sell.”
“Avery Singer: Reality Ender” is on view at Hauser & Wirth through October 30. See more images from the show, below.
Installation view “Avery Singer. Reality Ender” at Hauser & Wirth, New York. Picturing: Studio (2019); Sculptor (2021); and Wojack Battle Scene (2021). © Avery Singer, courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin. Photo: Lance Brewer.
Avery Singer, Happening (2021). Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin.© Avery Singer Photo: Lance Brewer.
Avery Singer, Sculptor (2021). Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin.© Avery Singer Photo: Lance Brewer.
Installation view “Avery Singer. Reality Ender” at Hauser & Wirth, New York. Picturing: Studio (2019) and Sculptor ( 2021). © Avery Singer, courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin. Photo: Lance Brewer.
Installation view, “Avery SInger. Reality Ender” at Hauser & Wirth New York. Picturing: Side Quest (2021); Sculptor (Study) (2021); Sculptor (2021); and Happening (2021). © Avery Singer, courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin. Photo: Lance Brewer.
Installation view “Avery Singer. Reality Ender” at Hauser & Wirth, New York. Picturing: Studio (2019); Sculptor (2021); and Wojack Battle Scene (2021). © Avery Singer, courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin. Photo: Lance Brewer.
Installation view “Avery Singer. Reality Ender” at Hauser & Wirth, New York. Picturing: Technique (2021); China Chalet (2021); and Edgelord (2021). © Avery Singer, courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin. Photo: Lance Brewer.
