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CLARE WOODS

I Blame Nature

Night Gallery is thrilled to present I Blame Nature, an exhibition of paintings by Clare Woods. This is the artist’s second solo presentation with the gallery. It follows After Limbo—her debut solo show in Los Angeles—and her participation in the group show Shrubs (both 2022).

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

A cropped view of a green and brown lattice with white flowers and vines wrapping around the grid formation

Clare Woods, The Long Arm, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

Lush violet and green brushstrokes create an abstract background. White chandelier is depicted in the foreground.

Clare Woods, Retreat from Glory, 2023

Time is a central concern throughout I Blame Nature. Flowers droop, the face sags, a cat appears in either temporary or permanent rest. Even a cherry dessert, decorated couch, and pair of faces appear composed of geological strata. Our adventures on earth, and those of the plants and ecologies we know, are comparatively brief. Yet with an air of Magritte, the surreal title painting depicts a mirrored image of a timeless scene—clouds floating across the sky. As Woods commingles the ephemeral and eternal, she asks larger questions about her medium’s relationship to preservation and loss.

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

A cropped view of green leaves and vines wrapping around a trellis.

Clare Woods, The Zealous Intruder, 2023

Detail of Clare Woods’ “The Zealous Intruder”

Clare Woods, The Zealous Intruder, detail, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

Thick strokes of deep red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange depicted a cropped view of pillows on a couch.

Clare Woods, Hampstead Bizarre, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

The artist works from a studio in rural England, where the vicissitudes of weather and landscape are ever-present concerns. Her process begins long before she applies paint. For three decades, Woods has amassed a trove of images from disparate media sources and her own photography. She selects a handful for each show, then creates simple line drawings that remove most of their information. Woods applies these drawings to aluminum panels, which she lays flat on trestles.

A cropped image of Louise Bourgeois’ face with the artist wearing a beanie and a white fur coat

Clare Woods, Lou, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

An image depicting the layers of a trifle. A close up view of red strokes, layered with beige and white frosting.

Clare Woods, Cold Front, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

Then she begins to paint: wet into wet, one section at a time, with an improvisational approach to color and form. Woods cannot see her full composition as she works—she makes do with what’s immediately in front of her. Much of her color mixing happens on the panel, as the artist pulls color through from one section to the next. Though she paints a single layer, the aluminum allows her brushstrokes to retain their texture and volume.

Green and yellow brushstrokes create flowers and leaves in a potted plant on a blue base.

Clare Woods, Short Term Pessimist, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

A vanity mirror sits titled and reflects a blue cloudy sky.

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, 2023

Three large-scale paintings anchor I Blame Nature. The Long Arm (2023) features a gridded trellis entwined with white flowers. Its own arms appear to extend infinitely beyond the bounds of Woods’ composition. In Retreat from Glory (2023), a luminous chandelier hangs in the center of a dark wood backdrop. Time Slip (2024), the final painting Woods made for the show, depicts sunset clouds floating horizontally above deep blue terrain. The artist treats this landscape with the vertical cropping traditional to portraiture. Up close, each of these works dissolve into abstract tangles of color that record the artist’s dynamic movements.

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

A white cat rolls on it’s back on green grass next to a shrub.

Clare Woods, Pragmatic Ambiguity, 2024

Detail of Clare Woods’ “Pragmatic Ambiguity”

Clare Woods, Pragmatic Ambiguity, detail, 2024

An image of a dog’s head from a bird’s eye view with blue, green, red, and magenta strokes swirling to create a background.

Clare Woods, Up Close Magic, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

A depiction of a pink candle burnt half way in a clear candlestick stand.

Clare Woods, Mary, 2022

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

Woods honors her aesthetic heroes in the exhibition’s dual portraits. Al takes inspiration from an image of Alice Neel, Lou from a late-aughts portrait of Louise Bourgeois (both 2023). Woods is obsessed with these women’s works and lives: the hardships they endured and the trajectories of their own aesthetics. After three decades of painting, Woods feels she’s only at the beginning. Time keeps passing, and there’s still so much work to do.

An image depicting the layers of a trifle. A close up view of ochre strokes, layered with beige and white frosting.

Clare Woods, Mr Softee, 2023

Detail of Clare Woods’ “Mr Softee”

Clare Woods, Mr Softee, detail, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

A cropped image of Alice Neel’s face in blue and green tone. The artists’ eyes are shut and her mouth is agape.

Clare Woods, AL, 2023

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

Installation view of Clare Woods’ “I Blame Nature” at Night Gallery

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

A depiction of a cloudy sunset sky with hues of pink, blue, yellow, and green.

Clare Woods, Time Slip, 2024

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

Clare Woods, I Blame Nature, installation view, 2024

Clare Woods (b. 1972, Southampton, United Kingdom) was elected a Royal Academician in 2022. She has presented solo shows at Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, United Kingdom; Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark; Cristea Roberts Gallery, London, United Kingdom; and Buchmann Galerie, Berlin, Germany. In March 2022, Woods mounted a solo exhibition at The Serlachius Museums, Mänttä, Finland. She has had recent institutional solo exhibitions at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, United Kingdom; Mead Gallery, University of Worcester, United Kingdom; Dundee Contemporary Art, United Kingdom; Harewood House, Yorkshire, United Kingdom; Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, United Kingdom; and Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, United Kingdom. Group exhibitions include Fernweh Space, Beijing, China; National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales; ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark; Tate St. Ives, Cornwall, United Kingdom; and Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY. A monograph on Woods entitled Strange Meetings was published in 2016 by Art / Books, London, and her work has been featured in Artforum, Frontrunner, Studio International, The Art Newspaper, Frieze, The Independent, and FT Magazine. Her work belongs in permanent collections of The Hepworth Wakefield, United Kingdom; National Museum, Cardiff, Wales; and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, among many others. Woods lives and works in Hereford, United Kingdom.

A cropped view of a green and brown lattice with white flowers and vines wrapping around the grid formation

Clare Woods

The Long Arm, 2023

oil on aluminum

118 1/8 x 157 1/2 in (300 x 400 cm)

Lush violet and green brushstrokes create an abstract background. White chandelier is depicted in the foreground.

Clare Woods

Retreat from Glory, 2023

oil on aluminum

78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in (200 x 200 cm)

Inquire
A cropped view of green leaves and vines wrapping around a trellis.

Clare Woods

The Zealous Intruder, 2023

oil on aluminum

59 x 39 3/8 in (150 x 100 cm)

Thick strokes of deep red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange depicted a cropped view of pillows on a couch.

Clare Woods

Hampstead Bizarre, 2023

oil on aluminum

59 x 39 3/8 in (150 x 100 cm)

Inquire
A cropped image of Louise Bourgeois’ face with the artist wearing a beanie and a white fur coat

Clare Woods

Lou, 2023

oil on aluminum

31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in (80 x 60 cm)

Inquire
An image depicting the layers of a trifle. A close up view of red strokes, layered with beige and white frosting.

Clare Woods

Cold Front, 2023

oil on aluminum

11 3/8 x 9 1/2 in (29 x 24 cm)

Inquire
Green and yellow brushstrokes create flowers and leaves in a potted plant on a blue base.

Clare Woods

Short Term Pessimist, 2023

oil on aluminum

78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in (200 x 200 cm)

A vanity mirror sits titled and reflects a blue cloudy sky.

Clare Woods

I Blame Nature, 2023

oil on aluminum

39 3/8 x 27 1/2 in (100 x 70 cm)

A white cat rolls on it’s back on green grass next to a shrub.

Clare Woods

Pragmatic Ambiguity, 2024

oil on aluminum

59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)

Inquire
An image of a dog’s head from a bird’s eye view with blue, green, red, and magenta strokes swirling to create a background.

Clare Woods

Up Close Magic, 2023

oil on aluminum

59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)

Inquire
A depiction of a pink candle burnt half way in a clear candlestick stand.

Clare Woods

Mary, 2022

oil on aluminum

19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in (50 x 50 cm)

Inquire
An image depicting the layers of a trifle. A close up view of ochre strokes, layered with beige and white frosting.

Clare Woods

Mr Softee, 2023

oil on aluminum

11 3/4 x 9 1/2 in (30 x 24 cm)

A cropped image of Alice Neel’s face in blue and green tone. The artists’ eyes are shut and her mouth is agape.

Clare Woods

AL, 2023

oil on aluminum

31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in (80 x 60 cm)

A depiction of a cloudy sunset sky with hues of pink, blue, yellow, and green.

Clare Woods

Time Slip, 2024

oil on aluminum

118 1/8 x 78 3/4 in (300 x 200 cm)

Inquire
A cropped view of a green and brown lattice with white flowers and vines wrapping around the grid formation

Clare Woods

The Long Arm, 2023

oil on aluminum

118 1/8 x 157 1/2 in (300 x 400 cm)

Lush violet and green brushstrokes create an abstract background. White chandelier is depicted in the foreground.

Clare Woods

Retreat from Glory, 2023

oil on aluminum

78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in (200 x 200 cm)

A cropped view of green leaves and vines wrapping around a trellis.

Clare Woods

The Zealous Intruder, 2023

oil on aluminum

59 x 39 3/8 in (150 x 100 cm)

Thick strokes of deep red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange depicted a cropped view of pillows on a couch.

Clare Woods

Hampstead Bizarre, 2023

oil on aluminum

59 x 39 3/8 in (150 x 100 cm)

A cropped image of Louise Bourgeois’ face with the artist wearing a beanie and a white fur coat

Clare Woods

Lou, 2023

oil on aluminum

31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in (80 x 60 cm)

An image depicting the layers of a trifle. A close up view of red strokes, layered with beige and white frosting.

Clare Woods

Cold Front, 2023

oil on aluminum

11 3/8 x 9 1/2 in (29 x 24 cm)

Green and yellow brushstrokes create flowers and leaves in a potted plant on a blue base.

Clare Woods

Short Term Pessimist, 2023

oil on aluminum

78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in (200 x 200 cm)

A vanity mirror sits titled and reflects a blue cloudy sky.

Clare Woods

I Blame Nature, 2023

oil on aluminum

39 3/8 x 27 1/2 in (100 x 70 cm)

A white cat rolls on it’s back on green grass next to a shrub.

Clare Woods

Pragmatic Ambiguity, 2024

oil on aluminum

59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)

An image of a dog’s head from a bird’s eye view with blue, green, red, and magenta strokes swirling to create a background.

Clare Woods

Up Close Magic, 2023

oil on aluminum

59 x 59 in (150 x 150 cm)

A depiction of a pink candle burnt half way in a clear candlestick stand.

Clare Woods

Mary, 2022

oil on aluminum

19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in (50 x 50 cm)

An image depicting the layers of a trifle. A close up view of ochre strokes, layered with beige and white frosting.

Clare Woods

Mr Softee, 2023

oil on aluminum

11 3/4 x 9 1/2 in (30 x 24 cm)

A cropped image of Alice Neel’s face in blue and green tone. The artists’ eyes are shut and her mouth is agape.

Clare Woods

AL, 2023

oil on aluminum

31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in (80 x 60 cm)

A depiction of a cloudy sunset sky with hues of pink, blue, yellow, and green.

Clare Woods

Time Slip, 2024

oil on aluminum

118 1/8 x 78 3/4 in (300 x 200 cm)