On an uncharacteristically overcast afternoon in August, I meet Los Angelesbased painterHilary Pecisat her Eastside studio.
I used to live in San Francisco, and Im over that.
Ed Mumford, courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery.
FLOWER POWERAbundant color characterizes Pecis’s work, likeSpring Vases,2022. Ed Mumford, courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery.
(Normally youd find Pecis in her running clothes and Saucony trainers.)
There is an appealing lack of pretense about the artist, both in her self-presentation and in her process.
I love it when people send me arrangements, she says.
Pecis’sRed Fish,2022. Ed Mumford, courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery.
But Trader Joes flowers last just as long.
Flowers are a motif in each work, whether assembled in vases or adorning a textile or both.
But thats not her: Im always like, Ugh, maybe this is right, maybe its not.
Hilary Pecis,Doorstep, 2024, acrylic on linen.
We had very few boundaries.
I remember being allowed to ride the city bus around 9 or 10 years old.
And, really, my parents had no idea where we went.
Hilary Pecis,Lockhaven House, 2024, acrylic on linen.
We would just get on the bus, go somewhere, and then come home.
There was a TV show on PBS calledThe Secret City,with Commander Mark, she recalls.
(Commander Mark is Mark Kistler, a.k.a.
Hilary Pecis,Sharon Flowers, 2024, acrylic on linen.
the Bob Ross of drawing, whose motto could neatly stand in for Peciss career trajectory: Dream it.
There was art made with immediacy and with whatever materials were around, she says.
It completely blew my mind.
I was trying to fit into this grad-school idea that painting is dead.
Instead of painting, Pecis found herself making cerebral, collage-based work.
With that new mom-brain, the way I had been working felt inauthentic.
I was like, I cant do this, she says.
I like the colors and the subject matter.
And those are fine reasons to make a painting.
The same fine reasons are on full display in her new paintings for her upcoming show.
Rhythm is something of a theme in Peciss life.
Immediately after she completes work for a big show, she participates in a race.
Before the New York City show, she will travel to Seattle to run her seventh marathon.
On a daily run, there is that one-foot-in-front-of-the-other pace of moving towards your end goal.
If you dont do the work, youre not going to get to the finish line.
Hilary Pecis: Warm Rhythmis open from September 4 October 12, 2024 at David Kordansky.
