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The American painter smothers her paintings in heavy layers of viscous pigment. This first proper London exhibition is a splodgy, orgiastic tribute of her material, but some big messages are subtly embedded if you can scratch your way towards them.

Schutz's Approach

Schutz’s approach – which has seen her lauded as a leading painters of her era – is all about texture, application, hue and substance. It’s painting for painters, real high-level art-nerd stuff. Should you enjoy losing yourself in coats of color and shading, there’s plenty to engage you for a while. But it’s Schutz’s grotesque, dreamlike, animated, metaphorical imagery that truly drives the paintings tick.

Initial Exhibition Pieces

These pieces in the first gallery are populated by giant-headed cyclopses and roaring mobs. One piece shows a collection of forms stomps senselessly towards something off canvas, waving hands and leaving a trail of trash in their path. A different work features a person given a huge mask in an odd initiation ritual before a horde of ugly supporters. It’s easy to interpret these as political, as observation on America’s condition, on societal splits and angry, and mob mentality is transforming all to waste.

An Embrace by the artist.

Shift in Focus

In the second exhibition area, Schutz seems to redirect attention to the leaders and elites, instead of the masses that follow them. Mysterious forms stuff their mouths with fruit and meat in a sombre dining room; a religious figure and a man in green recline in gilded seats – whereas in other works a pair comfort one another in a landscape filled with dead bodies, and a woman, maybe Schutz herself, rests unclothed, desolate and powerless in bed.

Inspirations and References

This is ultradense, thickly layered stuff, filled with allusions. You’ll find the dreamy surreal symbolism of a symbolist master, the pink, corporeal animation of Philip Guston, the festive bizarre elements of James Ensor, the big-headed weirdness of a contemporary artist. She includes nods on the art historical tradition, countless nods to pop culture (It seems certain that one painting is a depiction of Handsome Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants). You could spend hours spotting all the elements from classic painters with which she’s sprinkled the works.

A Model by the exhibitor.

Interpretation and Narratives

Art this complex, complex and allegorical invites to interpretation. I feel as if I’m being quizzed on the meaning of a Titian but, in my view, there are a couple of distinct narratives: the people in power, and the public that they provoke.

Controversy and Impact

And Schutz should know about that. Back in 2017, her artwork Open Casket – a semi-abstracted depiction of the corpse of Emmett Till, a young African-American who was murdered by racist perpetrators in a southern state in the mid-20th century – sparked immense debate when it was displayed at the Whitney Biennial. She was accused of profiting from tragedy for her personal benefit. An activist picketed the painting each day, and some demanded it to be destroyed. A white artist depicting – arguably with great sympathy – a scene of black pain was the major headline of the biennial. This marked the height of the recent social conflicts, a period that featured infighting even if they were on the identical team. In retrospect, in a world more divided, less nuanced and angrier than ever, it seems almost charming that individuals found moments to get angry at this heartfelt, sorrowful painting.

Legacy and Current Work

This might have ended her career, and Schutz probably wants to progress. But everything she’s done now exists in its influence. She unavoidably emerged of that experience a transformed creator. But what remains constant is how good she is, how she still engages in brilliant, sickly, thick and highly topical art at the top tier.