2019 – 2024
Portrait of a Modern Day Aristocrat, 2019
Inspired by Tamara de Lempicka
Acrylic on Wood
“Throughout my works, you will see a connection between the popular culture, political, and economic aspects of 1920s America and how it compares or contrasts to the roaring 2020 decade we are currently entering. Class gaps widening exponentially, alcohol banned ,farmers suffering from inflation, immigrants not welcomed, the Great Migration of the black community flooding in from the south, mass production for a better quality life for middle class families, cars and cross-country roads built everywhere, women experiencing small amounts of free expression through the suffragette and flapper movements, the world recovering from the 1918 pandemic, and the upper-class partied like no tomorrow. This happened all while the once thought-to-be-infallible economy peaked and then crashed causing the worst depression in American history. A lot can happen in these coming years, but so far it seems to be much like the decade that came roaring in a century prior: untamed, chaotic, beautiful, and absolutely terrifying.“ – Alexa, 2020
This body of work began in 2019 as part of my AP Art Portfolio and has since evolved into an ongoing exploration of American politics and the cyclical nature of history. Early pieces, such as Elon Musk: Modern Aristocrat, have taken on a prescient quality, echoing themes that later emerged since 2020. Across the collection, recurring motifs – women’s rights, immigration, and the escapism of the few elite – underscore how history continues to repeat itself. What began as a dialogue between past and present has transformed into a meditation on the persistence of these cycles. My recent works respond to the growing sense of nihilism in contemporary society, using painting as both critique and means of reckoning with the fact that history never dies, it just changes its costume.
Alexa Esposito Paintings 