38 DEPARTURES CULTURE
38 DEPARTURES CULTURE ARTSCAPE then trowelling it on. Alongside her play with colour and composition, inspired by Tibetan sand mandalas, are poetic titles like Dreams Stretched along the Roof of the World or All of Life Fell Across the Sky. “My titles are usually long because I’m always taking notes from books I happen to be reading on spirituality or philosophy,” explains Guidi. Unsurprisingly, meditation is part of her daily routine – and an important part of her creative process. She also finds inspiration in nature: “I live close to Griffith Park, so it’s easy to dip into a little pocket of nature. That’s the nice part of LA: you don’t have to go very far to feel like you’re in the woods or the desert.” In her studio, she works to the pulsating rhythms An installation view of Guidi’s Mountain Range exhibition at Château La Coste this past summer, with Morning Wrapped Land Aglow (2023) in the foreground of contemporary hip-hop but also has a stack of revered modern masters – Bonnard, Matisse, Van Gogh, Gauguin – on her night table. Born in Redondo Beach, California, Guidi attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she learned “a traditional approach” that has guided her ever since. “I started out as a figurative painter and that was where I really learned how to see,” the artist says. It has taken a while to come “full circle” from the style of her first 2005 show in a small LA gallery to now. “My work used to be more photorealistic, even if it was still based in colour, light and form,” explains Guidi. “Then, over the years, I tried to empty out what I saw and record an image from the inside. It was important to get to that place to make an abstract painting. And now it’s back to landscapes.” In 2018, she was taken on by the powerhouse Gagosian gallery and is also represented by the David Kordansky Gallery, where her recent exhibition, In the Heart of the Sun, was hailed as something between spiritual and hallucinatory. With a 2022 solo exhibition at the Long Museum in Shanghai and several recent shows in Europe, Guidi’s steady ascent continues. Last year, a painting entitled Elements of All Entities sold at Christie’s for A glimpse inside Richard Rogers’s cantilevered Drawing Gallery, Guidi’s Dreams Stretched Along the Roof of the World (2023) front and centre FRÉDÉRIC DESIMONI (2)
BRICA WILCOX (2) We Live in a World of Wonders (2023), featuring sand, acrylic and oil on linen “I started out as a figurative painter and that was where I really learned how to see” 5,000; her work now sells privately between 0,000 to 0,000. Does Guidi believe in the transformative power of art? The artist pauses, gazing out at Château La Coste’s pineshaded sculpture trail. “I’ve been collecting paintings for the past 20 years at home in LA and I know that the work on my walls affects me on a daily basis – simply because paintings change with light and time of day,” she says. “There are collectors of my own work who tell me that they meditate in front of my paintings and feel a sense of calm and joy. I like to think of them as an energy source, something that will resonate emotionally.” Jennifer Guidi’s first US museum solo exhibition will be held at the Orange County Museum of Art (16 September to 7 January 2024), jenniferguidi.com Guidi adds the finishing touches to We Live in a World of Wonders (2023) 39 DEPARTURES
