OCHI is pleased to present Collective Intimacies, Avery Wheless’ first solo exhibition with the gallery, on view in Sun Valley, Idaho from April 2 through May 14, 2022.

Collective Intimacies features new paintings that celebrate female bodies at play—in solitude or in spirited synchronization, simultaneously aware and purposefully oblivious to prying eyes. Thick brushstrokes become limbs as bodies drape themselves over lounge chairs, fall into the grass, or caress velvet cushions. Each painting draws the observer into a scene where women laugh leisurely as they relax with friends, stylish even when casual. A finger daintily traces the lip of a glass while gesturing to a friend and mouths are caught mid-whisper out of earshot of the viewer. Figures and forms melt into each other but retain elements of fragility, of awareness. Wheless becomes the director, arranging her protagonists and composing narratives as they interact softly with each other. Each body in space finds her stage and performs.

The women depicted in Wheless’ works set the terms of their own loveliness, passing afternoons in comfort and evenings in luxury. Amused together at midnight around a candle-lit table, relishing in the dip of a toe into water, a clandestine conversation among friends—each scene expressing ease and thus, sanctuary. The figures in Surveillanced Fun! (2021) joke amongst themselves, donning pearls and flirty dresses under massive chandeliers. Garnishing cocktails, they walk in unison and beckon others to join in the revelry. Socially energized surfaces are contrasted with quieter ones. All of my feelings (2022) portrays a woman daydreaming under a pastel swirled sky—serene and alone, but in no indication lonely.

Questions of performance and social anxiety perforate Wheless’ party scenes, as the lines between observation and participation become blurry. The artist photographs her friends and sources other figures from social media—the uncanny combination of spontaneous or carefully posed bodies, not to mention anonymous or recognizable faces, illuminates these psychological tensions. Exploring these vulnerabilities, Wheless asks her viewer to become voyeur, flaneur, people watcher, and guest—though she is ultimately in control of all players. The psychology of leisure and issues of class in the context of the social are on display throughout Collective Intimacies and each feminine tableau articulates a nuanced point of view.

Avery Wheless (b. 1993, Charlotte, NC) makes energetic and tender paintings about the female body in play—in solitude or collectively, in public or private space, with or without an audience, but always for pleasure. Wheless’ experiences as a filmmaker, writer, and frequent collaborator all feedback into her vigorous studio practice. She received a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2015 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.