“Can You See Me Now? Painting the Aging Body” at Ryan Lee Gallery

September 14 – October 21, 2023, co-curated by Jeffrey Lee and Clarity Haynes

“I want to celebrate the old body, I want to show the beauty of – and the fear and dread it generates – the female body as it ages and changes, sags, thins and thickens. This to me is a sacred body.”

– May Stevens

Featuring select works from an expansive and esteemed roster of women painters, Can You See Me Now? Painting the Aging Body represents a shared exploration of the aging body across generations. From Samantha Nye’s sexy portrait series of four older women at their most bodacious, to Beverly McIver’s intimate self-portrait holding a doll, the artworks both individually and collectively celebrate the immense grace, grandeur and fortitude of aging.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with an essay by Jillian McManemin and forewords by Jeffrey Lee and Clarity Haynes.

RYAN LEE

515 West 26th Street, Floor 3, New York, NY 10001