P·P·O·W is pleased to present girlgirlgirl, Grace Carney’s first solo exhibition in New York. Referencing Baroque and Renaissance painting, literature, daily life, and her own body, Carney’s work eschews easy categorization in paintings that hover between abstraction and the suggestion of figurative forms. Reflecting an underlying interest in liminal spaces, her canvases embrace the ambiguity and messiness of the paint itself. Carney notes, “I am interested in the history of the painting…the life of the painting.” Often restricting her palette, Carney begins each work from a place of discomfort or constraint, wrestling with distinct personal narratives, memories, and relationships with bold vulnerability. Within the manifold layers of her densely worked surfaces, Carney confronts the complexity of contemporary existence and the pursuit of self-determination and transformation.

In works such as Tickle Pink, 2023, Carney personifies the emotional space between maternal love and dependency. Both a mother and child, as well as a Pietà, the painting features hot pinks, aquas, and yellows that ebb between luminous and saccharine. Alongside the paintings, Carney will present a selection of new largescale works on paper of contorted and jostling figures who act as battling egos. For Carney, finding truth through a submission to the uncomfortable and the challenging becomes paramount to her practice.