“The work is always kind of about this time travel. Bringing things from the past to the current moment.”

Jesse Mockrin is known for her luminous paintings that reappraise art history and its representations of gender and power. With distinctive compositions that break from her historic precedents, Mockrin reimagines iconic stories and subjects with her distinctive, crisply defined figures. Weary from the chase, 2017, evidences Jesse Mockrin’s interest in Renaissance and Baroque artists who emphasized line, such as Bronzino and Peter Paul Rubens, with its luminescent figures set in a darkened landscape. The subjects’ attenuated limbs and fingers also exemplify the Mannerist character in the artist’s work.

Weary from the chase spotlights gesture, with one figure massaging her heel while the other releases the collar from a canine companion in a moment of repose. The stunningly composed work is anchored at its corners, providing mere glimpses at its subjects, rooting it firmly in the contemporary. The subject and title of the enigmatic Weary from the chase reminds of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, and her empowered art historical representations in the story of Diana and Actaeon. While Diana is typically depicted bathing with female companions and hunting hounds, Weary from the chase provides a refreshed take on these familiar motifs.