Laura Karetzky

I find myself drawn to Karetzky’s work for many reasons—the monochromatic palette, the peephole nature of perspective portrayed, the intimate (but not) subject matter. All of these appeal greatly, but if I had to pick one thing, it would be the texture. While I haven’t seen any of her paintings in person, the digital images undoubtedly affirm scratches, streaks, drips, and chisels—a quality that, for whatever reason, makes me feel drawn into another reality. And perhaps that is the point, to visit someone else’s reality. As Emily Capone notes in her review of Karetzky’s 2021 Concurrence exhibition:

“Karetzky’s choice and application of her medium is purposeful. Each layer has a reason. The primed wood and textured backgrounds insinuate a history of use, much like finger streaks on a window or a tablet screen, while the layer itself is the first “window.” The actual windows evoke the physical engagement of the viewer, whether through a genuine representation in real time or through a time capsule. This hybridization is something Karetzky touches on with paintings such as Teal Text and Remote Screen. The play on words and the literal juxtaposition of the teal window on a digital screen is a stark contrast to the reflections through a mirror in Green Key or Points and Palms.”

***Points And Palms*** 2022
oil on panel, 60 x 48 in

Laura Karetzky received her BFA from Carnegie-Mellon University, an MFA from The New York Academy of Art, and engaged in additional training at the School of Visual Arts, The New York Studio School, the Rhode Island School of Design, as well as extensive study in Florence, Italy. She is the recipient of several awards and fellowships including 2021 New York Studio School Artcritial Prize; 2020 New York Studio School Mercedes Matter Award; 2017 ESKFF Mana Contemporary Residency; 2014 Milton and Sally Michel Avery endowed Fellowship at Yaddo; 2011 Yaddo Fellowship; and 2009 New York Academy of Art Eric Fischl Award of Distinction. Laura Karetzky lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

from the Luis De Jesus gallery:
”For many years, Laura Karetzky has been interested in the effect that communicating, specifically through technological means, has on perception. Since the pandemic, we have relied substantially on live-media platforms to perform our daily functions, and now we appear to be stuck somewhere between the real and virtual – a hybridization of witnessing the world, both in and around us.

The phenomenon of being inside our bodies and outside, on other screens, in other windows, and in other places, has changed our understanding of space forever as the boundaries of each are merging. This has led Karetzky to question the images she sees in every aspect of her visual field. With this body of work, she addresses the story inside another story, a window in a window so to speak, superimposed or inherently found; life reinstated inside itself.”