Rebecca Ness
Forthcoming exhibition
Overview
Rebecca Ness, 'Talking to Mom', 2025, Oil on linen, 228.6 x 152.4 cm. (90 x 60 in.)
Ben Brown Fine Arts is delighted to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Rebecca Ness, marking the first presentation of work by the acclaimed New York-based figurative painter with the gallery. Ness is a painter of everyday life. Her subject matter is people – encountered directly, but also through the environments, objects, and ephemera that surround and define them. At heart a narrative painter, Ness composes tightly constructed mises en scènes, scattered with visual cues and charged with latent stories. Her works are technically virtuosic, formally complex, and driven by a vivid, unapologetic sense of self.
Though strikingly lifelike, Ness’s paintings resist photorealism. She does not prioritise exact representation or strict adherence to scale and perspective. She revels in the materiality of oil paint – brushstrokes are visible, gestures intentional, and the surface always alive. In doing so, Ness aligns herself with a lineage of figurative painters, drawing resonance from David Hockney, Norman Rockwell, and most notably, Lucian Freud.
Though strikingly lifelike, Ness’s paintings resist photorealism. She does not prioritise exact representation or strict adherence to scale and perspective. She revels in the materiality of oil paint – brushstrokes are visible, gestures intentional, and the surface always alive. In doing so, Ness aligns herself with a lineage of figurative painters, drawing resonance from David Hockney, Norman Rockwell, and most notably, Lucian Freud.
