From Esther Pearl Watson’s UFO-infused paintings of American rural life to Nobuyoshi Araki’s photographs of his beloved cat, preview some of the more accessible works from this year’s online Viewing Room.
Esther Pearl Watson, I Wish Aliens, 2025 Acrylic and glitter on panel, 20.3 cm x 25.4 cm. Presented by Andrew Edlin Gallery
Esther Pearl Watson's ‘memory paintings’ are inspired by her nomadic upbringing and her father's unusual hobby of building flying saucers (or U.F.Os). Playfully narrating the experience of an economically precarious family living in rural America, Watson’s work highlights ‘an absurd, persistent and particularly American optimism that only seems to grow stronger in the face of failures of family, policy and the American Dream.’