Philip Martin Gallery is pleased to present, “The Nearness of You,” a solo exhibition of new works by New Orleans-based painter Sophie Treppendahl.
Like a scene by Édouard Vuillard, Sophie Treppendahl’s paintings present familiar places to which we have never been. Her interiors are warm and inviting. Comfortable and full of reading, art-making, eating, cooking - life. The placement of Treppendahl’s objects is particular. She composes “in the flatbed,” meaning that she builds her composition with an eye not only to perspectival space, but also to the flatness of the picture plane, with shape, line and color pushing and pulling, moving the viewer’s eye. In Treppendahl’s work, the viewer often sees the passing of time: things that happened; things waiting to happen. The viewer sees the remains of a dinner party, the light moving through a room, opened books a reader has enjoyed. As viewers we follow this same trajectory, moving through Treppendahl’s paintings at our own pace, in our own space, in our own time.
“I created this body of work during my pregnancy and just after the birth of our first child, Lorenzo, who arrived in mid October,” Treppendahl writes. “The work serves as a documentation and celebration of my life at the conclusion of my childless early thirties and the very early days of life as a mother. While my work has frequently centered around interiors and scenes from my life, the desire to nest and create a warm environment intensified this year while we prepared for our son’s arrival at his first home: our little New Orleans shotgun apartment. We moved into the space with its garish purple and teal walls, and transforming it became part of my practice. Masked, three months pregnant, I painted the walls and mantles and quickly cluttered them with beloved trinkets and art, simultaneously painting snippets of it all in my studio. These months felt like a sacred ritual of preparation.”
“This year I’ve found myself fixated on my day to day—my routines, my studio life, and my evolving body—awaiting and sometimes fretting about the impending changes, attempting to prepare for the inevitable discomfort and the unknowable (thankfully now I know, wonderful) life I’d have once he arrived. This exhibition is titled after the song “The Nearness of You,” specifically my favorite version, which is sung by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. I listened to the song shortly after Lorenzo was born and felt it perfectly fit this period of life, preparing for him alongside my husband, carrying him daily while I painted—waiting to hold our sweet boy in our arms:”
“When you’re in my arms
and I feel you so close to me
all my wildest dreams came true
I need no soft lights to enchant me
If you would only grant me the right
To hold you ever so tight
And to feel in the night the nearness of you”
-written by Ned Washington
Sophie Treppendahl (b. 1991, Baton Rouge, LA) received her BFA from College of Charleston (Charleston, SC) in 2013. Treppendahl’s work was featured in The New York Times front-page Arts Section story, “What Our Critics Are Looking Forward to in 2024.” Sophie’s recent and upcoming solo and group exhibitions include “The Nearness of You,” “Take Care of Yourself,” and “The Sky Has a Thousand Windows,” Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); Haverkampf Leistenschneider (Berlin, Germany); Jack Hanley Gallery (New York, NY); Hashimoto Contemporary (New York, NY); Johansson Projects (Oakland, CA); Quirk Gallery (Richmond, VA); Kenise Barnes Fine Art (Larchmont, NY); 1969 Gallery (New York, NY); Carrie Secrist Gallery (Chicago, IL); Heaven Gallery (Chicago, IL); Indianapolis Art Center (Indianapolis, IN); Ada Gallery (Richmond, VA); Dread Lounge (Los Angeles, CA); The Broad (Richmond, CA); How’s Howard (Boston, MA); The Southern Gallery (Charleston, SC); Gildar Gallery (Denver, CO); and Richard and Dolly Mass Gallery (Purchase, NY). Treppendahl has been awarded residencies with the Golden Foundation (New Berlin, NY); 100 W Corsicana (Corsicana, TX); The Provincial (Chief, MI); and The Wassaic Project (Wassais, NY). Her work has been reviewed in publications such as Booooooom, White Hot Magazine of Contemporary Art, Hyperallergic, and Chicago Reader. Treppendahl lives and works in New Orleans, LA.
Sophie Treppendahl’s exhibition is on view January 11 - February 8, 2025, with an opening for the artist Saturday, January 11 from 5-8pm.
Philip Martin Gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday 11-5 and Tuesdays by appointment. The gallery is located at 3342 Verdugo Road, Los Angeles CA 90065. For additional images and information please call 323-507-2037 or email info@philipmartingallery.com.
