Los Angeles-based painter Michelle Blade is presenting her first solo show with Night Gallery in Los Angeles, titled "It's About Time." The exhibition features a new body of work focused on still lifes and landscapes from around her home, captured at different hours of the day. Using acrylic and ink on cotton poplin with a wet-on-wet technique, Blade creates luminous, shimmering compositions that blend memory, perception, and projections of the future. The show follows her recent solo exhibition at the Powerlong Museum in Shanghai and her inclusion in the group show "Superbloom" at Night Gallery.
The exhibition matters because it marks a significant moment in Blade's career, expanding her exploration of California light and the ephemeral nature of reality. Her work engages with a tradition of artists like David Hockney and Charles Burchfield, while offering a deeply personal, psychological perspective shaped by motherhood and lived experience. The show's focus on temporal change and the instability of perception invites viewers to bring their own experiences to the work, reinforcing the relevance of contemporary painting that bridges figuration and abstraction.