October 29 – December 12, 2026
Smooth, curvilinear planes and warm tones suffuse the paintings in Gentle Giants — sumptuous yet unsettling tableaux that merge figuration with abstraction.
Ally Cotton: Gentle Giants will present the artist’s paintings in a solo exhibition at VillageOneArt. Smooth, curvilinear planes and warm tones suffuse Cotton’s works. Provocative yet ambivalent, the elements in her paintings merge figuration with abstraction, implying the presence of the feminine body without overly emphasizing figuration. Cotton creates sumptuous yet unsettling tableaux that evince an adroit approach to capturing light and line. Curves and layers seem to hover, extending outward from the picture plane to entice viewers to imagine these surrealistic visions as part of their inner world. The artist’s brushwork seems to dissolve surfaces, creating unified, undulating planes able to approximate dreamworlds, natural environments, and even fast food.
Cotton creates gradients in her compositions that seemingly defy gravity. Assimilating line into the three-dimensional depths of her paintings, she keenly invokes emotional impact. Her use of gradient and color, and her ability to apprehend the influence of linework on composition, build on the dexterity of 20th-century masters of color and line such as Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. The artist applies her training to today’s doomscroll aesthetics, presenting a subversive yet keenly contemporary lens. Her ability to transcend representational and abstract painting styles speaks to her skill as an emerging contemporary painter working in New York City today.
Works in the Exhibition
Gentle Giants will be on view at VillageOneArt, 150 West 25th Street, New York, from October 29 to December 12, 2026, with an opening reception on Thursday, October 29, from 6 to 8 pm. For inquiries regarding available works by Ally Cotton, please contact info@villageoneart.com.