Inspired by Judy Chicago’s painting from 1971, the Sky Sun plate, produced in partnership with Prospect New York, was created to commemorate MCA Chicago’s 2019 “Visionary” event, which will celebrate Judy Chicago’s career and ongoing commitment to creating art as a vehicle for intellectual transformation and social change.

Using her signature pallet of bright pastels, the original Sky Sun painting is part of a series of works painted using a technique Chicago developed after she learned how to spray paint at autobody school. Acrylic lacquer, sprayed in successive layers onto an acrylic support, allowed for a complete fusion of color and surface. The luminous squares of color that fade in and out of their gridded format seem to move and breathe as they expand and contract, melding flesh and landscape references through color, form, and technique.