Combining the dark wit of Francisco Goya with the lush painterly style of Elizabeth Peyton, Dublin-based artist Genieve Figgis is the painter of the moment. Within just a few years of leaving school, she has become a favourite of critics and artists alike, including Richard Prince, the art world s resident provocateur. Remarkably prolific, Figgis paints quickly but deftly, cycling through a range of painterly styles and highly charged content, from bawdy, sexual vignettes with women and men in various states of undress to darker, more macabre scenes. Regardless of theme, each work is a world unto its own. The beautifully packaged volume features the full complement of the artist s ravishingly intimate work, including select drawings. Dodie Kazanjian interviews the artist regarding one of her most recent projects, paintings and sketches devoted to the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet, and her immersive process as she undertook them. Alison Gingeras contributes an essay exploring Figgis s consummate storytelling and how this impulse relates to the artist s Irish roots.
