Kings and Queens

Joann Maggi’s admiration for the portraits of majestic figures and the European elite painted by the great portrait artists such as Hals, Rembrandt or Velasquez is shared by scores of other artists. However, it is in her emancipation and juxtaposition from the rigid serious classic portraits where she makes her stamp and exhibits her flair and personality, making at times a bolder and livelier statement, or simply transporting the noble figure to an absurd or comic place. Her “Kings and Queens” simultaneously pay homage to the master portrait artists while also giving her a platform to make her own interpretations and explore her own metamorphoses of those pieces.