Petra Cortright’s Digital Deconstructions

Petra Cortright presents recent digital paintings in solo exhibitions at 1301SW in Melbourne and Starkwhite in Auckland.

The American-born artist is known for her manipulation and distortion of digital imagery to form beautiful, densely layered paintings.

At 1301SW, haunted lemon hunted spirit (15 July–12 August 2023) focuses on Cortright’s curiosity for the overflow of images and information in the digital post-internet age.

In works like Slums of Beverly Hills_sexual positions serengeti sunglasses (2022) and “Dairy Queen” D.A.R.E./daydream believe cover death+penalty+pros+cons (2021), Cortright selects, warps, and layers digital imagery to create vibrant, disorientating perspectives.

At Starkwhite, micro lemon diamond realm (7 July–19 August 2023) is the Los Angeles-based artist’s first solo exhibition in Auckland. The show features a group of digital paintings that continue Cortright’s unusual mashup of digital and physical imagery.

In works like Slums of Beverly Hills_sexual positions serengeti sunglasses (2022) at 1301SW and Tennessee bicycle dealers” waffles+machine WARZONE GUIDE (2022) at Starkwhite, the artist offers bursts of organic form in custom digital brush strokes and a rich palette against rigid geometric backdrops.

We detect fragments of familiar forms like flowers and leaves, though these realisations are lost as quickly as they are found due to Cortright’s compact use of layered imagery.