{"id":8282,"date":"2026-09-11T11:52:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8282"},"modified":"2026-09-11T11:52:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:52:30","slug":"symmetry-and-biomorphic-forms-characterize-roberta-gentrys-sensual-paintings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=8282","title":{"rendered":"Symmetry and Biomorphic Forms Characterize Roberta Gentry\u2019s Sensual Paintings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Symmetry<\/p>\n

Through brilliant oranges and moody shades of blue, Los Angeles-based artist Roberta Gentry<\/a> renders vivid, balanced compositions that, as she says, take the senses seriously. Gentry has long been interested in the relationship between the constructed and the natural, cultivating abstract, biomorphic forms scaffolded by tall columns. <\/p>\n

Gravitating toward symmetry and restricted palettes, Gentry paints rhythmic pieces that adhere to an underlying grid. Every painting is the result of multiple layers of thinned acrylic, which build into subtle gradients that dissipate across the canvas.<\/p>\n

\"an
\u201cThe Rose Lattice\u201d (2026), acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The paintings shown here are part of that artist\u2019s upcoming solo exhibition, Blood Orange<\/em>. Lush with color and texture, Gentry\u2019s pieces reference the 16th-century La Dame \u00e0 la licorne<\/a><\/em> tapestries, comprised of six fiber works featuring a blond, lavishly dressed noblewoman flanked by a unicorn on one side and a lion on the other. Each piece correlates with one of the five senses, with text on the sixth reading \u201c\u00c0 Mon Seul D\u00e9sirm,\u201d or \u201cto my only desire.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Blood Orange<\/em> references the tapestries\u2019 bold color palettes, Gentry also renders various elements they depict. The velvet gown the noblewoman wears, a towering pipe organ, and the orange trees anchoring the backdrop become central forms. <\/p>\n

Although scholars interpret the tapestries as directly referencing the sense, others take a broader, more nuanced approached. The latter posit that the fiber works speak to how we gather knowledge and information about the world\u2014particularly through the sixth, more mysterious piece related to emotion\u2014and this is another place where Gentry\u2019s interests align. She often considers \u201chow we construct mythologies to interpret and explain our lived experiences,\u201d that emerges on the canvas through a tension between the order of the grid and the roving, unpredictable nature of organic growth. <\/p>\n

Blood Orange<\/em> runs through October 24 at Track 16\u2019s East Hollywood location. Find more from the artist on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"an
\u201cTwo Tails\u201d (2026), acrylic on canvas, 14 x 18 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cNine Holly Berries\u201d (2026), acrylic on canvas, 14 x 18 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cA Golden Collar\u201d (2026), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cVelvet Shoulders\u201d (2026), acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cThe Organist\u2019s Arbor\u201d (2026), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cTen Oranges\u201d (2026), acrylic on canvas, 18 x 14 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cUnicorn\u201d (2026), acrylic on canvas, 36 x 28 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Symmetry and Biomorphic Forms Characterize Roberta Gentry\u2019s Sensual Paintings<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through brilliant oranges and moody shades of blue, Los Angeles-based artist Roberta Gentry renders vivid, balanced compositions that, as she says, take the senses seriously. Gentry has long been interested…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8282\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}