Best Visual Artist 2014
Just a glance at her website, and you can tell Valerie Lewis' paintings are complex as hell: each of them—even the darker ones—shimmer with life and an intense, loving provocation. Never just straight-forward pictures of friends or acquaintances, each image she creates writhes with subtext: A woman's mouth opens in a state of ecstasy, as clouds drift through her transparent skin. The late Kelly Thomas glows amid dripping lotus flowers. Half-naked boys lie sleeping on grass, S
