Steve Turner is pleased to present Poor Gray: Domestic Scenes, the first solo exhibition of Montreal-based painter Claire Milbrath. Although Milbrath did not receive formal art instruction, her work is informed by various naive painters from the past, especially in its disregard for both the rules of perspective and the classical rendering of the human form.
Her work centers around a character she calls Poor Gray, an aimless, wealthy, anxious man. Milbrath explores themes of gender, challenging traditional concepts of masculinity by depicting Gray as vulnerable, effeminate, and idle. Through Poor Gray, Milbrath also satirizes power, wealth and masculinity within the history of oil painting. In Domestic Scenes, we find Gray lounging in his luxurious home.
Claire Milbrath (b.1989, Victoria, British Columbia) is an artist and editor-in-chief of art publication The Editorial Magazine. Milbrath earned her BA in History from Concordia University. She currently lives in Montreal. This is her first solo exhibition.