Genieve Figgis facts for kids

Genieve Figgis (born in 1972) is an artist from Ireland. She became known for her art by sharing it on social media. Her paintings are famous for their bright colors and sometimes spooky or unusual subjects.

A magazine called Flaunt said her paintings are special. She uses lots of thick acrylic paint on her canvases. Her art often looks like classic paintings, but seen through a 'melted' or spooky filter. This makes her work feel both old-fashioned and very modern.

Learning to Be an Artist

Genieve Figgis studied art in Ireland. In 2006, she earned a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. She got this from the Gorey School of Art in Wexford.

Later, in 2012, she finished her studies. She earned a Master's degree in Fine Arts. This was from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.

How Her Art Career Began

In 2014, Figgis started sharing her artwork on Twitter. This caught the eye of a famous American artist named Richard Prince. Because of this, Figgis became known in the New York art world.

Writer Olivia Parkes said that Figgis is an unusual rising art star. She started her family before she went to art school. She also became famous online before art galleries noticed her. It's a great example of how the internet can help new artists. It helps us find amazing art faster than before.

Since 2015, the Almine Rech Gallery has shown her work.

From the very beginning, Figgis has played with ideas of fancy, upper-class life. This kind of life is often shown in famous old paintings. Artists like Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, Fragonard, Édouard Manet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, James Ensor, and François Boucher often painted such scenes.

Her Unique Painting Style

Figgis's art style mixes real-life images with abstract shapes. Her paintings might remind you of the 18th-century Rococo style. She takes cheerful old Victorian photos and paintings. Then she uses thick paint to make the people look melted or like zombies.

Figgis loves how paint can surprise her. She uses drips and swirls of paint to create her figures. This gives them a spooky look in her paintings. Her technique involves letting paint drip onto the canvas. Gravity and colors bleeding together do most of the work. She adds small marks to create specific details and textures. She looks up to artists like Marlene Dumas, Cecily Brown, and Jenny Saville.

Her art has been shaped by growing up in Ireland. The rules of the Catholic Church influenced her. Also, the beautiful countryside around her home in County Wicklow inspires her. Figgis believes that knowing about a spiritual side and connecting with nature helps you feel more linked to the Earth's energy. You can see these spiritual ideas in her work. She uses rich colors that seem to "bubble, ooze, and marbleize as if alive."

In 2018, Figgis painted her own version of Leda and the Swan. This was inspired by an earlier work by François Boucher. Figgis's modern painting changes a sweet, romantic scene. She adds dark humor to it. This turns a playful moment into something more shocking and scary.