By Annikka Olsen

Encountering a painting by New York-based artist Dana James in the group show “Boundless,” staged by Hollis Taggart in their new Lower East Side location earlier this summer, I was struck by how it deviated from earlier work I’d seen by the artist. It clearly reflected the artistic DNA of James and yet appeared significantly bolder, more daring.

Now, James is the subject of her third solo show with Hollis Taggart, “Ink Moon,” and the recent shift in her practice is on full display. “I think it has to do with really finding confidence as a painter,” said James during a studio visit while flanked by Taxi and Veronica, her two greyhounds and former racers who are almost always with the artist. “Sometimes I just want to be expressive and messy with it and have an overall feeling of intensity instead of the soft, more cathartic style, which, I definitely still have, but it’s now coalesced more with the gesture and contrast.”

James is best known for her very pretty and alluring use of vibrant pastels, namely shades of pink and purple that evoke everything from the twilight hour to ’90s cartoons like Sailor Moon. In the collection of new works within “Ink Moon,” however, a striking focus on gesture and a larger role played by near-black hues highlight this newfound intensity.

Creating a wholly new body of work for a solo exhibition is a lot of pressure for any artist, and for James, the pressure was twofold as the opening of the show is roughly the due date of her first child. In addition to tackling the work and exploring new horizons within her practice, she was navigating an advancing pregnancy. Despite the pressure and looming deadline, Hollis Taggart had every faith. Gallery Director Paul Efstathiou, who has worked closely with James since she joined the gallery in late 2019, said on a video call, “I knew she would pull it off. I wasn’t worried.”