This painting is part of my Fresh Finds project, where I’m revisiting older work from the 1990s. I painted Tea Party in 1992 while I was living in Davis and showing at John Natsoulas Gallery. The label from that show is still on the back.
At the time, I was heavily influenced by the Bay Area Figurative painters, and I was also thinking about how language worked in queer culture. “Tea party” was a term that, depending on context, could mean a gossipy get-together or something more coded—like a cruisy encounter in a place like a subway. This painting hints at that underground vibe without being explicit.
I based it on a reference image of three guys coming out of a subway, one of them grabbing his crotch. I really liked the dramatic lighting—sort of backlit with yellow and orange, like a blast of energy behind them. It’s painted in oil on canvas with loose brushwork and bold color.
I framed it at the time using some leftover molding from a friend’s framing shop. The reddish-brown frame is original to the piece. https://www.kenneymencher.com/
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