Artist Summer Wheat’s exhibition ‘Noble Metal’ is on view at Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv. She is known for her ability to “push the boundaries of acrylic paint to create works that are compelling and visceral.”

Born in Oklahoma City, Summer Wheat received an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design and a BA from University of Central Oklahoma. Her solo exhibitions include Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City and others. This is Summer Wheat’s first international solo exhibition.

The artist’s collection of paintings and sculptural forms are defined heavily by expressive structure and color that challenge the perceived limits of material and process. She tends to place her subject matter upon the figure and narrative, and employs a unique painting technique by pushing acrylic paint through a thin wire mesh to make rich, fiber-like surfaces. The title ‘Noble Metal’ is a reference to metals that resist corrosion and oxidation, and which form the conceptual crux to the makebelieve world that Wheat fabricates in her work. In this series, Wheat traces ideas of female empowerment through the unusual lens of Egyptian pictography. Whilst looking at renderings of men pouring water, cutting fish (essentially “running things” in daily life), Wheat tried to superimpose a set of women into their places, by trying to reimagine a bunch of women in a rustic settings. These women use metals daily, in ritual ceremonies or even cast jewelry or objects. The artist sees these objects that the persons use daily: hairbrushes, vessels, bowls, coins, etc. The noble metal serves as a metaphor for the strength of this community of women.