Alison Van Pelt: 40 Years Painting Portraits
February 19 – March 31, 2026
Gallery Chang, New York
Gallery Chang, New York presents Alison Van Pelt: 40 Years Painting Portraits, the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York, on view from February 19 through March 31.
Alison Van Pelt is widely known for her highly refined portraits that often appear photographic at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, the works reveal themselves clearly as paintings. Her paintings are not built through multiple layered surfaces, but rather completed on a single condensed surface. She combines acrylic and oil paint and incorporates silver and gold leaf to create light and depth. While the images may initially resemble photographs, the intentionally visible brushstrokes emphasize that these works are fundamentally paintings completed through the movement of the artist’s hand. Her works are often mistaken for photographs, a perception the artist embraces. At the same time, by leaving certain brushstrokes clearly visible, she reveals the materiality of painting and reminds viewers that the image is not a simple reproduction but the result of a painterly process.
Alison Van Pelt has painted widely recognized public figures such as David Beckham and Chris Cornell, while also creating works that carry symbolic and cultural narratives, such as the Spotted Jack Rabbit series. In this way, her work moves between iconic individuals and symbolic subjects, expanding the boundaries of portraiture.
Born in Los Angeles in 1963, Alison Van Pelt studied at UCLA, ArtCenter College of Design, and Otis Parsons, and later at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy. Influenced by artists such as Chuck Close, Agnes Martin, Robert Rauschenberg, and Helmut Newton, her subjects range widely from animals to boxers, celebrities, spiritual leaders, Native American warriors, and heads of state. Van Pelt blurs and repaints classical portrait imagery, repeatedly building and dissolving the image to create works with a beautifully faded and mysterious atmosphere. Her refined technique—seen in delicate light and shadow, layered paint, ambiguous yet careful brushwork, and restrained, meditative gestures—ultimately enhances the humanity of her subjects. As a result, her portraits are often described as mysterious, human, and deeply evocative rather than idealized.
Junhwan Chang, Director of Gallery Chang, stated, “We are very pleased to present Alison Van Pelt’s first solo exhibition in New York. This exhibition is both a concentrated presentation of the artist’s forty-year practice and an important opportunity for her to meet New York collectors directly.” Curator Soojin Kang added, “We felt that Alison’s wit and distinctly Los Angeles sensibility are being newly received and appreciated within the New York market.”
The opening reception on February 19 was attended by major New York collectors, curators, art advisors, and members of the cultural community. On February 21, the gallery hosted Coffee with the Artist, a conversation event with the artist. Private viewings are available by appointment.
Exhibition Title: Alison Van Pelt: 40 Years Painting Portraits
Dates: February 19 – March 31, 2026
Location: Gallery Chang, New York
