NEW YORK, NY.- Olney Gleason opened a solo exhibition of new oil paintings by New Hampshire-based artist Danielle Fretwell (b. 1996). Terms of Consumption features a suite of still lifes that further develop the artist’s inquiry into the perception of truth and illusion.
Fretwell imbues the genre of still life painting with a contemporary urgency, combining a skillful use of painting, photography, and printmaking techniques to pose questions about what is seen and obscured. Her paintings are frequently split by two compositional elements: precisely rendered still lifes – replete with an abundance of fruits, desserts, and tableware – are juxtaposed with abstract fields of color and texture, which the artist describes as veils. Evoking the sensuous allure of Dutch Golden Age banquet scenes, Fretwell’s still lifes are forthcoming in their power to entice, their immersive bird’s-eye views and characteristically dim settings emphasizing their visual seduction. By contrast, the veils keep a portion of the scenes out of view, whether in the form of obstructive barriers or dramatic shadows. This inherent discord highlights the handmade construction of each image, inspiring reflection on truth and deception against the backdrop of our increasingly artificial visual culture.
The artist begins each painting by carefully staging a tableau of objects, including seasonal fruits, tableware sourced from New England antique stores, or occasional objects from her home. She takes photographs of the objects in various arrangements, from which she creates a composite composition – an original invention in paint, whose final image never existed in reality. A recurring use of trompe l’oeil effects, including a napkin hanging over the edge of a table, or the handle of a knife pushing through the picture plane, further establish a sense of illusory depth and perspective for the viewer. Fretwell often presses fabric or foam into a layer of wet paint to create her veils, borrowing the approach of monoprinting to leave a record of physical pressure that draws attention to the texture and colors of the painted surface.
On view in Terms of Consumption is a suite of paintings that reflect Fretwell’s broadening visual vocabulary. Gold and silver appear throughout the exhibition, as do marble and iridescent tablecloths. Working under artificial light, the artist has heightened her attention to the reflective surfaces of her objects in this body of work. A pronounced reflection of Fretwell’s studio light appears in a number of objects, whether the rind of a watermelon or the lip of a porcelain mug, underscoring the immaculate nature of the setting while recalling the conditions of the image’s making.
Danielle Fretwell (b. 1996, Massachusetts) lives and works in New Hampshire. She received her MFA from Boston University (2021) and BFA from Endicott College (2018). She has staged solo exhibitions with Alice Amati, London, and has participated in group exhibitions at Sargent’s Daughters, New York; Gallery 263, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, New York, among other venues. She was awarded a Long Meadow Art Residency in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 2025, a MyMA Artist Grant in 2023, and a residency at The Studios at MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts, in 2021. She has been featured in Vogue Italia among other publications. Fretwell is represented by Alice Amati, London.
