Winston Wachter Fine Art, New York is pleased to announce Good Apple, a new body of work by Amanda Manitach. Rich in unapologetic feminine energy, this debut of new drawings engages themes of the good girl/bad girl narrative while indulging in Rococo flourishes and decadent ornamentation.
The series was sparked by a phrase Manitach jotted down in a sketchbook more than a decade ago, “since my naughty little eve.” This phrase, standing alone on a page without any other context or explanation, has continued to spark contemplation surrounding the femininity associated with Eve and The Garden of Eden: The cascade of consequences following Eve’s indulgence in the forbidden fruit, the reactions spinning out from her actions, and ultimately the power—both subtle and violent—that resides in transgression.
Each of Manitach’s drawings are a delicate labor of love. The works are a back and forth of addition and subtraction, layering and erasing, detectable in each stroke of lead or smudge that marks the paper. Manitach describes this very personal and time-consuming process being “akin to marking a heartbeat or a breath.” For her, drawing serves as a vehicle to untangle what it means to embody and navigate the poles of pleasures and lust, decadence and restraint, helplessness and power.
Amanda Manitach’s imagery invokes issues surrounding female psychology, physicality, and sexuality. Bold, honest, and at times dark thoughts are shared in text, which melts into a soft feminine pattern sourced from an 1885 French wallpaper sample. Her large-scale drawings address the historical, often-gendered psychology of the decorative arts. The pieces are inevitably smudged, worn and covered with fingerprints where the artist’s wrists, hands, knees and limbs have come into contact with the paper, transforming the “pretty” pattern into a record of her thoughts and physical struggle to create.
Manitach’s work has been exhibited at the Frye Art Museum, Bellevue Arts Museum and Tacoma Art Museum. From 2012 to 2015, she served as curator of Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University. She co-founded and co-directed multiple mixed-use arts spaces in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, including TMRW Party and The Factory.
