Shifting between figuration and abstraction, Jaclyn Conley (b. 1979 in Ontario, Canada) transcends historical painting styles to unveil the collective psychologies of a crowd in her latest series of works. This is communicated through distinct, gestural brushstrokes that comprise her canvasses, exemplifying the artist's finesse for light and color. A nod to Breughel and Ensor, Conley’s observation of her subjects in stillness and flux reveals the fluctuating forces of humanity. By freezing ephemeral moments, she exposes a part of human nature that is buoyant.

With a career spanning two decades, the artist has a highly developed practice that is constantly evolving. She has received international acclaim, with recent exhibitions at the deCordova Museum, MA, and the ICA Miami, FL, and past exhibitions at The Painting Center, NY, NurtureArt, NY, Projective City, Paris, and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, CT. Her work has been placed in collections including the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Ann and Mel Schaffer Family Collection, NJ, Barack and Michelle Obama Family Collection, ICA Miami, Kistefos Collection, Norway, and Vanhaerents Collection, Belgium, among many others. She is currently based in New Haven, Connecticut.

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photo by Peter Simon titled Reflection of Howard Zinn In A Puddle, October 28, 1968
The looming figure of historian and activist Howard Zinn is seen upturned in Peter Simon’s photograph. The radical thinker inspired generations of Americans to rethink their history and to reimagine the future of the country over and over again. In Reflection In A Puddle I imagine the initial unease but also the expanding potential as we learn to see things anew in this moment.