Maureen Dougherty’s first solo exhibition with BLUM is interesting because this is one of her first shows of all figurative works. The once abstract painter pivoted during the early COVID years, away from her NYC studio and in rural Massachusetts, she found a rhythm in a new way of image-making. In isolation, she was searching for signs of life. She told me at her opening that she drew, over and over, a car outside her window and found something electrifying about painting an object. The gallery notes, "The painter draws imagery from platforms like Instagram or OnlyFans—known for its proliferation of social media archetypes and amateur pornography—and reflects these commonplace representations back upon themselves with eloquent mimesis," and there is something rather jarring and simply beautiful about the faces and stories taken out of context. —Evan Pricco