Petra CortrightBURNT UMBER BROKEN SILVER AMERICAN SPIRIT

What Makes a Painting a Painting?

I have always wanted to be a painter, and I believe I have a painter’s brain, but I lack the patience for the process and the materials, not to mention the financial resources to invest in that journey.

Petra Cortright’s paintings are at the heart of her practice, where she merges traditional artistic genres like landscapes with the fluid, ever-changing aesthetics of the digital age. These vibrant pieces are feasts of visual intricacies, abstracted and suggestive of multiple layers of texture. Her latest body of work, titled BURNT UMBER BROKEN SILVER AMERICAN SPIRIT, created specifically for SOLOS, comprises uniquely crafted compositions of American landscapes overlaid with geometric shapes and doors, evoking her earlier series, Room (2021). She describes these rooms as portals— perhaps as symbols of transition between different states of being or consciousness—inviting viewers to step beyond the ordinary into realms of imagination, fantasy, and introspection.

Continually inspired by the aesthetics of the American West, Cortright draws from imagery that resonates with the region’s rich landscapes, exploring evolving themes of freedom. The juxtaposition of fires and idyllic landscapes within her compositions, serve as metaphors for the polarizing aspects of life in America.

Her vibrant explosions of color and texture emerge from a relentless pursuit of digital tools. With a palette inspired by the candy-coated hues of early internet graphics, her compositions embody a collision between chaotic dreams and painted realities. Utilizing software like Photoshop, Cortright creates layered images that reflect the cut-and-paste ethos of the web, seamlessly merging stock images, digital brush strokes, and glitch effects into a distinctly personal aesthetic.

Cortright’s digital paintings challenge traditional notions of authorship. In an era where a single image can go viral, what does it truly mean to claim ownership of an idea or aesthetic? She embraces the fluidity of the digital medium, crafting works that exist as both originals and copies, ephemeral yet enduring.

Cortright first gained recognition through her innovative experiments in video art, particularly with works such as vvebcam (2007), shared on YouTube. The significance of her early works lies in their use of accessible, everyday technologies intrinsic to internet culture. Rather than producing high-concept, gallery-ready pieces, Cortright embraced the raw, unfinished aesthetic of online experimentation, reflecting the democratizing effect of the digital landscape on art. In doing so, she questioned the very nature of authorship, recognizing that art was shifting from a singular, physical object to something that could exist as data—endlessly reproduced and reaching a global audience through the internet.

Cortright’s work has been acquired by numerous prestigious institutions, including The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NYC; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; KADIST, San Francisco; Perez Art Museum, Miami; San Jose Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC as well as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).