An enormous, Alice in Wonderland-sized Purell bottle appears in shattered chards strewn across the floor. The visual is like a cipher in a dream from the most delirious days of 2020. In actuality, the Purell bottle is a sculpture, a ceramic, called Exploded Purell by the artist Susan Chen. It is one of a series of sculptures and paintings by the artist now on view in “Plan B”, Chen’s second solo show at Rachel Uffner (through April 20) in New York. Witty, expressive, tender, and trying—the artworks are a personal look at the upheavals and realities of life over the past few years from the pandemic and the overturning of Roe v. Wade to time spent with friends perusing dating apps.
Chen (b. 1992, Hong Kong) is best known for her thickly impastoed portraits of friends and strangers, portraits often defined by a sense of community and identity. The imagery can call to mind earlier generations of community-minded women artists such as Mimi Gross, Sylvia Sleigh, and even Alice Neel. This exhibition, which is a follow-up to Chen’s debut with Rachel Uffner, “Purell Night and Day” in 2023, includes new portraits alongside new ceramic works, such as Exploded Purell, which Chen is showing for the first time.
