‘Inner Life’ Opens at Tripoli Gallery in Wainscott

Tripoli Gallery in Wainscott will present “Inner Life,” an extensive group summer show featuring artists Ashley Bickerton, Katherine Bradford, Sabra Moon Elliot, Tracey Emin, Mary Heilman, Yung Jake, Dan McCarthy, Miles Partington and Lucy Winton. The exhibition opens with a reception on Saturday, July 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. and brings together a range of artists who have all at one time or another, extracted their own inner life, putting it on view through their collective, multidisciplinary practices.

“‘Inner Life’ reflects on the constant battles and balancing acts we all find ourselves playing, maybe today more than ever,” reflected gallerist Tripoli Patterson. “Discovering our true purpose and meaning we project to the world is [only a fraction of] who we are and what we stand for. Yet, in a society that is so often overwhelmed with the importance of image it is easy to lose ourselves and the reasons why we are playing this game.

“More often than not, our careers take over and somehow become more important than the loved ones in our lives,” he continued. “Artists are always the leaders that we look to as they harvest those feelings from the core of their beings and portray them externally, on canvas with oils or acrylic or whatever medium carries their true emotions to the outside world. They bring this nostalgic feeling back to life and remind the viewers that the inner life is equally as important as the outside one.”

Tripoli Gallery has worked with the artists in the show previously and is honored to aggregate a group of works creating a new and exciting dialogue. Looking at the incredible sensitivity of artists such as Ashley Bickerton whose “Io and Daddy” (2022) paints an intimate portrait of the artist and his daughter. Katherine Bradford transports spiritual essence into her figurative work titled, “Standing Swimmers in the Pink Tide” (2024) as does Dan McCarthy with his “Gingham Guitar” and “Chilliwick” both 2010.

Both McCarthy and Bradford paint figures that could be anyone or everyone and yet, feel so connected to each of their own hands. So much is undefined and left to those present to imagine, yet at the same time all the information we need is right there. The concept of “Inner Life” relays the visual narration of the authentic self, a self that is without question untainted. This is also the case with Yung Jake’s “hoody” (2019), where a cartoon character named Kelvin functions as an abstract, avatar of sorts or shield that the artist can — like the garment itself — hide behind. Tracey Emin has unabashedly put her private selves onto canvas since the inception of her career. Her abstractions delve into the realm of dreamlike representations, interpreted through painterly lines. Sabra Moon Eliott and Miles Partington use sculptural forms and paintings removing any pretense or fear, allowing for their inner child to emerge. Lucy Winton accesses her inner life through surreal undertakings of subjectivity that we can all imprint onto through nostalgia and daydreams.

“Inner Life” remains on view through August 26 at Tripoli Gallery, 26 Ardsley Road in Wainscott. Visit tripoligallery.com for details.