The Figure Remains

Hollis Taggart Downtown is pleased to present The Figure Remains, a group show that brings together figuration and imagined landscapes through new and recent work by Paul Anagnostopoulos, Thomas Agrinier, Anna Berghuis, William Buchina, Jonni Cheatwood, Anna Ortiz, Justine Otto and Andrew Woolbright. The Figure Remains offers reflections on memory, identity and the shifting boundaries of perception, as the artists explore how personal and collective histories are constructed, concealed, and reimagined. Drawing on sources as varied as mythology, digital culture, ancestral heritage, and found imagery, the works invite viewers into a space where the self appears as both familiar and estranged. The exhibition will be on view from September 12 through October 18, with an opening reception on September 12 from 6 – 9 p.m. at 109 Norfolk Street.

Paul Anagnostopoulos and Anna Ortiz reference mythology and the remnants of past civilizations to explore themes of memory and identity. Working in acrylic and oil, Anagnostopoulos reinterprets Greco-Roman imagery through a contemporary, queer lens, reclaiming classical iconography to celebrate queer intimacy and storytelling. His figures inhabit radiant, dreamlike landscapes rendered in vivid neon tones, evoking a sense of longing for moments that feel both imagined and remembered. Ortiz’s surreal landscapes loosely reference the U.S. Mexico border, recalling the cultural divide she and so many second-generation Americans feel. Drawing on ancient Aztec and Mayan mythology, Ortiz’s work expresses a palpable sense of longing for her ancestral homeland. The idea of the border, both in its physical geography and as a metaphorical threshold between memory and imagination, anchors her practice, creating a space where the familiar meets the uncanny, and where past and present blur.

Self-taught artists Thomas Agrinier and Jonni Cheatwood blend abstraction with figuration to explore a wide range of subjects, reflecting the complexity of the human experience. Agrinier reinvigorates the tradition of figurative painting through depictions of action, using the body in motion as a metaphor for the inherent instability and of life. Departing from static portrayals of the body conveyed in much of figurative painting, His work invites a visceral awareness of one’s own body, capturing the lived experience more fully. Cheatwood, meanwhile, constructs his canvases as quilt-like assemblages of sewn fabrics, layering mixed media with abstraction and personal narrative. By obscuring his subjects’ faces, he confronts notions of identity and anonymity. Like a mask, this gesture universalizes the human condition, suggesting that beneath visible expressions lie hidden emotions and layered complexities. Both artists cite Francis Bacon as a formative influence, particularly his ability to merge figuration and abstraction in psychologically charged ways.

Like Cheatwood, Anna Berghuis, uses methods of concealment and distortion to address authenticity and performance of personality. She layers, doubles, mirrors and transfers imagery of figures onto her compositions through monoprinting. Representing both ourselves and others, the ghostly, almost unsettling figures in her latest body of work hover at the brink of becoming and dissolving in space.

Justine Otto and Andrew Woolbright’s work also straddles abstraction and figuration, with hints of figures and faces emerging from layered, often ambiguous backgrounds. Otto portrays individuals and groups through techniques such as wet-on-wet painting, taping and scraping, allowing figures to emerge from or dissolve into the surface of the canvas. Her subjects, engaged in enigmatic activities, remain anonymous yet carry fragments of narrative through familiar archetypes, such as generals and lonely cowboys riding on the prairie. More recently, Otto has included musicians, both solo and in ensemble, that bring new emotional tones to her evolving visual language. In Woolbright’s work, bodies become confused with virtual space, stock imagery and the imagery of dreams. He incorporates logos, cameras, phones and product packaging, layering the vernacular imagery of contemporary society into his complex and multifaceted visual language.

The layering of imagery, signs and symbols is central to William Buchina's surrealist amalgamations, where the everyday and the bizarre collide. In his latest series of work, familiar elements of his signature style remain. Disparate vignettes flow into one another like scenes unfolding in a dream. However, these works move away from the stark, high-contrast of earlier works, omitting the sketchy black ink outlines that evoked the feel of a graphic novel. Instead, visible brushwork brings a new tactility to the surface, revealing the artist’s hand more openly than before.

About Hollis Taggart Downtown
109 Norfolk Street, New York, NY

Hollis Taggart Downtown represents the new secondary location for Hollis Taggart realized through a partnership between Hollis Taggart, Paul Efstathiou, and Eleanor de Ropp Flatow. The downtown expansion builds upon the gallery’s presence and commitment to emerging and mid-career artists.

For more information about Reminisce, please contact us at info@hollistaggart.com or +1 212.628.4000.