Jocelyn Hobbie’s paintings are both dream-like and hyperreal, sophisticated and playful. Her craft is found within these opposing truths, and within an articulation of women presented in a precarious balance; one between contentedness, and dissatisfaction. The energy which resonates from her work is sourced from a superabundance of vivid colors and patterning. This sensation is directly contrasted with the women’s expressions which are subtle and enigmatic. Within her work there is a conversation to be had; one about femininity, mortality, eroticism and a persistent disaffection with contemporary life.
Echoing styles as divergent as the expressive figuration of New Objectivity and the layered patterning of Ukiyo-e, Hobbie hones a disjointed harmony and formal inventiveness. Her heightened naturalism and saturated color reveal an uneasy relationship to realism and firmly root these striking paintings in the age of post abstraction. Visuality is the primary value, an end in itself. While her work points to complexities and histories beyond the frame, the experience of what's actually on the canvas - it's aliveness in the moment and its insistence as a physical thing - is how we come to know it, and forms the terms by which it can be understood.
Hobbie was born and raised in Western Massachusetts and received her BFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. To learn more about Jocelyn Hobbie please see her detailed biography.
Jocelyn Hobbie is represented by Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, New York
Education
Rhode Island School of Design, B.F.A. Painting
Bibliography
Booooooom, “Jocelyn Hobbie-Artist Spotlight”, Anna Schneider, Feb 24, 2023
Galerie Magazine, “8 Must-See Gallery Shows in December”, Paul Laster, Dec 6, 2022
Juxtapose, “Jocelyn Hobbie at Fredericks & Freiser”, Rebecca Anthony, Nov 14, 2022
Flow Magazine, “What Do You Think?’, Maaike Beekers, Feb 2022 issue
Artsy, “Jocelyn Hobbie’s Hypnotic Portraits of Women Dazzle The Eye With Color and Pattern”, Scott Indrisek, November 21, 2018
Artnet, “Editors’ Picks: 8 Things Not To Miss In New York’s Art World This Week”, Caroline Goldstein, November, 19, 2018
The New Yorker, “Jocelyn Hobbie Review”, Johanna Fateman, November 16, 2018
Art Critical, “Jocelyn Hobbie Review”, David Cohen, October 25, 2018
Frankfurter Allgemeine, “There Is Not Just One Look”, Michael Watzka, May 5, 2018
Tory Daily, “Meet The Artist: Jocelyn Hobbie,”, June 23, 2017
Vogue, “Naked with Clothes on: How it Feels to be a Drawing Model,” Sarah Brown, October 16, 2016
ArtNet News, “The 8 Unmissable Booths at UNTITLED Miami Beach”, Brian Boucher, November 29, 2016
Public Art Magazine, cover image, July 2016, South Korea
Bliss magazine, artist profile, October 2016, New Port Beach, CA.
The New Yorker, June 6, 2016. (Photo & caption)
The New York Times, “What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week,” by Martha Schwendener. May 19, 2016
Artforum, “May 2016 Picks,” by Kaitlyn A. Kramer. May 13, 2016
The Wall Street International, “Interview with Jocelyn Hobbie: Inadvertent Voyeurism,” by Daniel Gauss. November 2015.
The Examiner, “Jocelyn Hobbie at Fredericks & Freiser: Beyond New Objectivity,” 2013
Art F City, “Purple: Jocelyn Hobbie at Fredericks & Freiser,” 2013
Artforum, "Critic's Picks", by Ara H. Merjian, October 2010
Art In America, Reviews, by Cassandra Langer, October 18, 2010
New York Magazine, "Painter Jocelyn Hobbie's Subjects Forgot to Close the Birdcage Door, Fasten Shirts", Emma Pearse, ArtCandy.com, June 26, 2008.
La Repubblica, "Hobbie e le madonne sognanti", Lis Parola, May 2008.
La Stampa, ”In Galleria", Olga Gambari, Torino, May 2008.
Vogue Italia, “Conversation: La mia natura e privata, come le donne nei miei dipinti”, Elisa Mogavero, January 2008, No. 689
Paper”, Gallery", Sarah Valdez, 2006.
ArtNet, Charlie Finch, “More, More, More!”March 2005
The New York Times, Ken Johnson, Art In Review, December 2000
The New Yorker, “Goings-On-About-Town”, March 1997
The Village Voice, Kim Levin, “The Voice Choice”, March
Art Fever, 1997 Mark Scala, March 1997
ARTnews, Carol Diehl, “Marvelous Sightings”, Special Issue 1995
BOOKS
Painting People: Figure Painting Today, Charlotte Mullins, Published by D.A.P., 2006
Solo Exhibitions
2023 upcoming, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
2022 Fredericks & Freiser, New York
2021 Gnyp Gallery, Berlin
2018 Fredericks & Freiser, New York
2016 Fredericks & Freiser, New York
2013 Fredericks & Freiser, New York
2010 Kerry Schuss, New York
2008 Galleria Glance, Torino Italy
2006 Bellwether Gallery, New York
1997 Jack Tilton Gallery, New York
1995 Jack Tilton Gallery, New York
Group Exhibitions
2022 Gloss, Tick Tack Gallery, Antwerp2021: High Voltage Two, Nassima Landau Foundation, Tel Aviv
2021: Delta of Venus, Hong Kong, Curated by Joan Tucker
2021 Women In Paris, Galerie Hussenot, Paris, Curated by Henry Relph, William Leung and Michael Dupouy
2021 Towards A More Beautiful Oblivion, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, NY
2021 Stockholm Sessions, Carl Kostyal Gallery, Stockholm
2019 Vanquishing Ocular, Curated by David Salle & Nicole Wittenberg, Rental Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2017 Hope and Hazard: A Comedy of Eros, Curated by Eric Fischl, Hall Art Foundation, Reading, VT.
2015 The Fantasy of Representation, Beers Contemporary Art, London
2014 Last Night Curated by Merrill Mahan, Salomon Contemporary, New York
2014 Unrealism Part 1, Fredericks & Freiser, New York
2013 Chicken or Beef?, The Hole NYC, New York
2013 Ladies & Gents, Salomon Contemporary, New York
2008 Like It A Little, V & A Gallery, New York
2005 Idols of Perversity, Bellwether Gallery, New York
2005 22 Years, Jack Tilton. New York
2004 Colored Pencil, K.S. Art, New York
2004 Articles and Waves, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
2003 Fhuh, Fish Tank Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2001 Waiting List, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
2000 Uncomfortable Beauty, Tilton/Kustera Gallery, New York
1997 Whitney Museum of American Art at Champion, Stamford, CT
Spazi Gallery, Great Barrington, MA 1996 Berkshire Artisans, Pittsfield, MA
Awards
New York Foundation for the Arts, 2006 recipient in Painting