Everyday Activities Revolve Around Interiors in Cinta Vidal’s Dizzying Oil Paintings

An oil painting of figures in the Eames House, with figures and furnishings on all sides, floor, and ceiling simultaneously.

“Eames” (2023), oil on canvas, 100 x 100 centimeters. All images © Cinta Vidal, courtesy of Thinkspace, shared with permission

Known for her perspective-bending murals (previously), Cinta Vidal explores the nuances of interiors and the myriad ways we interact within architecture in Cohabit, a new body of work presented with Thinkspace Projects in New York. “I’m intrigued by the relationship that people establish between themselves and their immediate surroundings, and now I’m zooming in to find out what’s going on in there,” Vidal says. “In contrast to my most recent works, where I played with darkness, I now strongly illuminate the scenes, which take on more vitality.”

The artist’s background in scenography and set design lends itself to a natural curiosity about how people move around and connect in different places. Notable art and architecture plays a key role in Vidal’s recent paintings, from the seminal Eames House, also known as Case Study House No. 8, to paintings by the likes of Piet Mondrian, the cool tiles of a subway station, or a Renaissance arcade in a public square.

Vidal’s paintings flirt with perception, filling private rooms and public areas with figures who barely adhere to the laws of gravity. Each composition can be flipped or turned onto its side to reveal parallel narratives unfolding in the same space, suggesting overlapping layers of time. In “Eames,” for example, people and furnishings wander up one of the walls and onto the ceiling, while in “Room,” the composition can be arranged on any of its four sides. The artist achieves this balance by anchoring paintings, corners, and windows around a central vanishing point.

Cohabit goes on view for four days only, from October 18 to 21, at a Thinkspace Projects pop-up location on Broome Street. Find more on Vidal’s website and Instagram.

An oil painting of figures standing outside New York City townhouses, with a group of people sitting on a tree sideways as if it is a branch.

“Avenue” (2023), oil on canvas, 80 × 80 centimeters

An oil painting of a home interior with figures on the top and bottom, which can be flipped either way.

“Hotel” (2023), oil on canvas, 73 × 61 centimeters

An oil painting of people sitting at a table in a Renaissance plaza, with the architecture turned sideways.

“Plaza” (2023), oil on canvas, 61 × 61 centimeters

An oil painting of a subway station with people on the bottom and the top, so it can be flipped.

“Subway” (2023), oil on canvas, 73 × 92 centimeters

An oil painting of an art museum with people on the bottom and the top, so it can be flipped.

“Museum” (2023), oil on canvas, 61 × 61 centimeters

An oil painting of a domestic space with people on the bottom and the top, so it can be flipped.

“Parlor” (2023), oil on canvas, 100 × 100 centimeters

An oil painting of a domestic with people on all sides of the composition so that it can be flipped on any edge.

“Room” (2023), oil on canvas, 100 × 100 centimeters

An oil painting of an art studio with people on the bottom and the top, so it can be flipped.

“Atelier” (2023), oil on canvas, 81 × 100 centimeters

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