American artist Gina Beavers scours Instagram and the Internet for images that become her realistic paintings, built up through dense accumulations of acrylics. Her work reflects life in the age of social media, with hashtagged subjects such as food porn or makeup tutorials.

Kimchi Hot Dogs. 2014. Acrylic and wood strips on canvas panel. Courtesy the artist

“In her visceral, vexing, often grotesque paintings, New York–based artist Gina Beavers (American, b. 1974) transforms digital images appropriated from social media and the Internet into thickly layered compositions that border on sculpture” –  MoMA PS1, which presents her first solo museum exhibition through Sept. 2, 2019.

Cake. 2015. Acrylic on canvas panel. Courtesy the artist

Deriving their titles from the captions or comments that originally accompanied her source imagery, Beavers actively anticipates that her works will be posted, shared, and re-shared across online platforms, notes for the exhibition say.

From a MoMA magazine article https://mo.ma/2Gg34nO

Gina Beavers holds a BA in Studio Art and Anthropology from the University of Virginia (1996), an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2000) and an MS in Education from Brooklyn College (2005).

Exhibition site, here.

A great MoMA feature on the artist, here.

On Instagram, here.

Credit for image at top of post: Painter Lips, 2019. Installation view of Gina Beavers: The Life I Deserve, on view at MoMA PS1, New York through Sept. 2, 2019. Photo: Walter Wlodarczyk