Bella Foster
Food of Light, Feb 4 – Mar 12, 2017

Past: 331 Broome St

Installation view, *Food of Light*, Canada, New York, 2017

Artworks

Bella Foster,
Companions,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
A tangle of string,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Banana moon,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Heads or tails,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Deck towards end of first night watch,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
A squeeze of the hand,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor on paper

Bella Foster,
Red Lolita, Great Mother,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor on paper

Bella Foster,
The Life-buoy,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor on paper

Bella Foster,
Food of light,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
The lookout,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
America the Beautiful,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor on paper

Bella Foster,
Ways of Seeing,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor on paper

Bella Foster,
Pushpin diver,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Raft,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Time and space give it some thought,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Stargazer,
2017,
8 × 6 in (20.32 × 15.24 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Buried treasure,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Melon/Helen,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor on paper

Bella Foster,
Venus and Totoro,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor and gouache on paper

Bella Foster,
Watching yourself go by,
2017,
11 × 9 in (27.94 × 22.86 cm)
Watercolor on paper

Press Release

In Bella Foster’s exhibition Food of Light at CANADA 331, twenty new paintings are presented, each one a miniature tribute, the size of a reproduction in a coffee table book. Rendered in watercolor on paper, Foster’s compositions possess an intensity that seems to defy the medium. The imagery is not loaded, per se, but it does pay mind to politics and awareness.

Every painting is a collection of memories and keepsakes, symbolic of sharing and friendship, the bond we feel with others, the desire towards protection. When I was a child my mom gave me a used contact lens in a tiny glass vile that I kept as a pet. The more ephemeral a thing, the more it can bestow on you its magical properties from its other existence. We care so much about objects but that is only because they allow us to. We need to care about something, to feel connected, grounded, alive. Foster’s works are a metaphor for the humble beauty of world history, told through a feminist lens. What is it about small things and color, the tracing of soft lines to describe a talisman, a rainbow, a length of yarn that is so maternal? It has to do with creation. With caring about what you bring into the world and being positive.

In these challenging times we take comfort in beauty, in symbols. The signs of the march, the indisputable message of love. Leading with kindness rather than insults. A broken pencil, the spine of a book. These things are vulnerable and dependent on our care as we bring them into being, and re-bring them again through art. Foster favors objects of knowledge, color field studies, fertility statues, books, vessels, fruits, textiles, artworks. Her tender compositions express a dedicated study and appreciation for secular things. A tenderness for the every day and a contemplation for every moment.

Bella Foster (b.1975, Los Angeles, CA) received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York. Her work has been exhibited at Venus Over Manhattan, Los Angeles; White Columns, NY; South Willard, Los Angeles, and in CANADA's 2016 Frieze NY booth, curated by Katherine Bernhardt. Foster lives and works in Los Angeles.