Essay ARTNOW.NZ

It has been more than two years since Marie Le Lievre presented a solo project at Jonathan Smart Gallery, so we are delighted to have her show Net Let occupying both gallery spaces from 3 March – 1 April, 2023.

A suite of new works, for the first time organized around a loose grid scratched into oil paint, form the basis of this exhibition. The mark-making, indeed the incisions, still feel intuitive, as does Le Lievre’s consistent and almost forensic pouring of oil paint.

A marvellous group of paintings on paper complement the bigger canvases. In these, Le Lievre’s touch with graphite drawn over duck-egg blue acrylic, suggests items of mystery assembled with both gay abandon and a slightly darker intent.