Painter Donna Woodley’s portraits of her girlfriends wearing granny panties on their heads are deceptively funny. One woman fixes her lips in a pout while another sticks out her tongue — their eyes are covered by the voluminous underpants, but the subjects exude confidence and invite an intimate viewing. In Coop Gallery’s New Members Show in March, Woodley used humor to bring up serious themes: With these playful portraits, she challenges the visibility and value that our culture — and the arts — places on women of color. In a series shown by Gallery Luperca at Fond Object in September, Woodley painted friends — black and white — wearing a red-and-white checkered Hattie McDaniel-style handkerchiefs, exploring the iconic, complicated Gone With the Wind character “Mammy” in a contemporary context. Woodley smartly engages viewers before hitting them with heavy shit, and Nashville is taking note. ERICA CICCARONE
Best New Artist
Donna Woodley
Donna Woodley Photo: Eric England
