Sophie Larrimore, Why So Many Poodles?
Sophie Larrimore, Why So Many Poodles?

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Sophie Larrimore, Why So Many Poodles?

Sophie Larrimore’s solo exhibition Desire Path at Kate Werble, New York has got me thinking about poodles a lot recently. A really witchy-looking miniature one frequented the café where I used to work and cried for hours in tones needier and more blood-curdling than the sound of the steam wand squealing the milk around the milk jug.

Kwg larrimore bordering magic  2021

Sophie Larrimore, Bordering Magic, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Kate Werble, New York. Photo credit: Elisabeth Bernstein Photography

"O how far the noble poodle has fallen!"

This is all to say I know I’m biased but I’m not the world’s biggest fan of the breed. But having done a bit of research, I’m here to say sorry for being so judge-y.

Did I ever stop to think whether Witchy Poodle might have been crying out of self-pity? Not only did she look like a witchy little llama in a funhouse mirror, but she was meant for a nobler existence than this one: eating scrambled eggs off a human plate in a bougie café and then having a little (big) cry about it.

Kwg larrimore magic touch too much  2021

Sophie Larrimore, Magic Touch Too Much, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Kate Werble, New York. Photo credit: Elisabeth Bernstein Photography

O how far the poodle has fallen! They were originally bred by wildfowl hunters to retrieve game from water, but now they are the victims of amateur topiary enthusiasts and the subjects of many a canvas by Sophie Larrimore. Her fauvist fluffballs embody the all-too-human question of how to live with dignity.

"Larrimore's fauvist fluffballs embody the all-too-human question of how to live with dignity"

‘There’s a touch of The Garden of Earthly Delights about Sophie Larrimore’s works’, says Emily Steer, and I agree. After Bosch, these canvases stage a fall from grace.

Kwg larrimore perennial crush  2021

Sophie Larrimore, Perennial Crush, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Kate Werble, New York. Photo credit: Elisabeth Bernstein Photography

"poodleoid humans lie down, bend over, or banana boat Martian-looking trees"

Larrimore’s style is flat, bold and gives off strong Sumerian vibes. But instead of enshrining Mesopotamian gods on friezes, she has humanoid poodles and poodleoid humans lie down, bend over, or banana boat Martian-looking trees, as in ‘Perennial Crush’. This world can be rather, well, embarrassing, especially in the taffy pink and greens of the 70s-that-should-have-stayed-in-the-70s.

Kwg larrimore gray  blue  2021

Sophie Larrimore, Gray, Blue, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Kate Werble, New York. Photo credit: Elisabeth Bernstein Photography

Matisse wanted art to be like an armchair: with all the vibrant colour and funky flora and fauna in Tetris-like arrangements, maybe Larrimore’s art is about comfort too — but only insofar as it is also about its opposite.

"the real comfort provided by Sophie Larrimore’s work is its seeming acceptance of discomfort and indignity as facts of life"

Kwg larrimore alternate side  2021

Sophie Larrimore, Alternate Side, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and Kate Werble, New York. Photo credit: Elisabeth Bernstein Photography

Consider the cuddle in 'Alternate Side'. This hug from behind, arm around the shoulder, communicates safety and security, with a yin yang of heads in harmony. Then again, the couple’s mouths are clenched as zippers, their necks permanently cricked. Poking out its tiny tongue, the clutch-sized poodle stares directly at the viewer; meanwhile, it’s difficult to tell whether the two figures are also looking at us, stony-eyed. What seemed so cosy a second ago is a bit, er, creepy. Above, a third figure, long-limbed as one of Matisse’s dancers but limp as a dead fish in a tank, free falls. Is that where they’re headed?

I'm not sure, and I'm not sure it matters. Sitting with the ambiguity for a while, you get the sense that the real comfort of Sophie Larrimore’s work comes from its seeming acceptance of discomfort and indignity as facts of life. So as we all make New Year’s Resolutions — going for jogs in January and fed up and puffed out by February — let's remember these primped up poodles and consider whose standards of dignity and indignity we are really living by.

While ‘Desire Paths’ closes January 27, I’ll be taking these doggos with me Grace Kelly-style into the rest of 2022.

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