Overstimulation is at the heart of American artist Sarah Sze’s new mixed-media paintings, featured in a solo exhibition at Hong Kong. These works at Gagosian Hong Kong continue Sze’s explorations of new technology and our relationships with images in the digital age. “Images and their authorship are always in flux,” the artist said in a statement. “We build, rebuild, and trade images like never before.”
Sze’s new paintings take elements from her previous paintings, which she obscures with collaged paper, dripping brushstrokes of neon pink paint, and various other materials and methods. Forever Now (2025), for instance, features a base image of a city skyline against a waterfront. Sze has altered the original image by adding snowy mountains that cover the entire right side of the canvas. Streaks of blue, silver, and pink paint cross the canvas and pasted images of a wolf and a bird are superimposed on its surface.
The density of these paintings contrasts with Sze’s “Fracture Image” hanging sculptures, which feature images printed on paper and suspended from the ceiling. Evoking the playfulness and soothing qualities of a baby’s mobile, these works offer a reprieve from the visual assault of the artist’s new paintings.