This winter, New York-based painter Loie Hollowell presents her first solo exhibition in Southern California, Overview Effect. The show is complete with six of her most sizable paintings yet, all made up of bright hues from a primary color palette that concave and convex on the canvas. Each eight-by-six-foot offering took around a year to finish, and with Hollowell’s studio space only being able to host two paintings at a time, the artist, like her audience, is seeing the exhibition all together at once for the first time on the walls of Pace’s LA gallery space. 

Overview Effect is named after the shift in perspective that astronauts experience when seeing Earth from outer space–seeing the planet from such a vantage point dilutes any sense of boundary, border, or differentiation that its inhabitants structure their life experience by. This, then, is a similar effect that Hollowell exhibits in her showing. At first glance, viewers see two orb-like figures converging, both so distinct in their geometric constrictions, and perfectly symmetrical in their convergence. Yet, the longer one observes a painting, and depending on how close they are standing, a freedom begins to emerge. 

Those who stand close to the canvas and speak may hear their voice echo and ring against the convexed feature, those who look closely will find the orbs blend together in their colorings, and if one looks long enough, may take the imprint of the canvas with them well after they’re done looking at a painting. 

In the next room is a collection of 16 small paintings, her smallest to date. A rainbow of canvases align on the wall, all complemented with a jutting nipple, titled Spectrum XVI. From blues and greens to pinks and purple, Hollowell displays a balance between stark contrast and intentional transition, expounded by a “milking line” that separates brightness from shadowing visuals of the paintings. 

Overview Effect is on view at Pace Gallery in LA until January 28, 2025.