Tali Lennox Goes Solo
As the daughter of Scottish songstress and activist Annie Lennox, Tali Lennox found herself in the limelight of the British fashion world before the age of 17. A model for brands like Prada and Burberry, the ingénue made a name for herself as a muse, but it wasn’t until she moved to New York and began painting portraits that she revealed her true creative aspirations. On the occasion of her month-long residency and first solo show at Catherine Ahnell Gallery, we caught up with young artist to get a behind the scenes peek at her new body of work before the doors open.
“Layers of Life” is on view from March 19 until April 19th at Catherine Ahnell Gallery, 66 Grand Street, New York, New York, 10013.
1
Tali Lennox in her temporary New York studio.
Photo by Ian Jones.
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“All the paintings in this series are self-portraits—I’m calling them my Selfies because they are almost the opposite of what selfies are. Oil paintings are old fashioned and traditional, so these images are really a reaction to the immediacy of today’s casual narcissism.”
Photo by Ian Jones.
3
“I was literally just in a towel and a face mask and I looked in the mirror and thought it was an interesting image. I’m always fascinated by what we expose and what we hide. Luckily, my boyfriend is a photographer, so he was able to quickly shoot me.”
Photo by Ian Jones.
4
“I am self-taught, which just takes practice. I constantly look at older artists who I respect and still see how much I have to learn. I think it’s important to want to progress.”
5
“I always find my palettes interesting. They are almost like this unconscious art. I think they expose the deeper psychology of the painting. For this show, I’m experimenting with hanging a wall of them in the front of the gallery.”
Photo by Ian Jones.
6
“There are a few different textures in this show that I’ve never used before. On a couple of the paintings, I ended up wiping away paint creating this smudge effect. It was a happy accident.”
Photo by Ian Jones.
7
“With painting, you need to be able to focus. Having an apartment to myself like this is a dream scenario. I feel so grateful to be given the space to create anything I want.”
Photo by Ian Jones.
