American artist Lisa Sanditz presents a suite of nine new works in her solo exhibition “Big Boy” at Huxley-Parlour in London, on view through May 31, 2025. The show, her third with the gallery, explores power dynamics within families and across generations through formal devices such as exaggerated scale, vibrant color, and playful imagery. Key works like "Big Boy/Big Gulp" (2025) and "Big Cat" (2025) use a hierarchy of scale rooted in medieval and ancient art traditions to reflect emotional and psychological tensions, while also commenting on broader societal and political shifts in America amid climate change.
The exhibition matters because it demonstrates how contemporary painting can address complex interpersonal and societal issues—such as familial roles, generational conflict, and polarization—through visual metaphor rather than narrative. Sanditz’s work bridges personal experience as a parent with wider cultural commentary, offering a psychological landscape where power and vulnerability constantly shift. The show reinforces the relevance of painting as a medium for exploring nuanced human relationships in an era of rapid change.