Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Rose Wylie: Which One

Apr 18 – June 30, 2021
525 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011, United States

Describing the work of British artist Rose Wylie, the words carefree and genuine come to mind. Her style is childlike—elementary in its execution and instantly recognizable. She draws inspiration from pop culture, newspapers, mythology, and everyday life, pulling form from memory and adding floating letters and sentences. Critical commentary is on offer, but tendered in Wylie’s humorous way. She is 83, and was little known before her late 70s. In an interview in 2018, she described her experiences of sexism in the art world. “‘You’re a woman, so why do you paint so big?’ ‘You’re old, you shouldn’t be painting like that.’ It was distinctly irritating,” she says. This exhibition, her fourth at the gallery, presents new paintings and works on paper. —E.C.

Rose Wylie, “Illuminated Manuscript, Adam and Eve,” 2020 © Rose Wylie. Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner.