February 15th 2013

It’s been a while since we’ve featured new work from Josie McCoy, so to have four pieces at once - a stunning oil painting and three original works on paper - is a real treat.

The oil, a good size at 65 x 40 cm, features the gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie Pollitt in the 1958 movie ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’. A story very much about deceit and deception, the painting sees Josie blend this away to portray a fresh-faced Pollitt through her distinctive style as she continues to investigate complex characters and deal with the subject of underlying falsehoods and untruths as a running theme in her work.

The watercolours - a somewhat new departure for McCoy - feature well-known scenes from the all time Christmas classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. Much more subtle in their appearance than her canvases, these delicately graceful monochrome works take archetypal scenes and present them as the film’s title would suggest - a picture of the perfect life with love, family unity, beauty and innocence. If you know what the story is about however, you’ll know why Josie has chosen it as a focus; although all finally ends well (of course it does, it’s an American classic), the tale is quite a dark one, essentially about a man’s struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts.

Ever since the ‘Eastenders’ character portraits that formed the basis of her Central St Martin’s final year exhibition, Josie’s work has been a celebration of the virtual, centred around our perceptions, first impressions and facades that often mask a hidden truth. Dreamlike Lynchian characters with their hypnotic gaze draw us in with their perfectly blended beauty, initially masking the gradual emergence of the truth that’s revealed when you learn more about the character’s story.

Difficult to illustrate through the screen, Josie’s works are truly breath-taking and of the highest standard, and some of my favourite in terms of what they stand for.

See the new pieces and all of Josie’s works on Eyestorm here.

All four of the new works will be on show at Affordable Art Fair Battersea in March - keep your eye out for free tickets next week.

Creative Director