Bad Actor marks the Los Angeles debut of New York-based artist Gail Stoicheff, presenting a new body of work that is formal, feminist, and darkly humorous. The exhibition plays on the legal and political notion of a “bad actor”, a disruptor, a troublemaker.

Each painting is a portrait of a mythological woman condemned for supposed transgressions: Alecto, the instigator of anger; Megaera, the punisher of infidelity. These figures, often vilified, reclaim space in Stoicheff’s bold, layered compositions.

A Fusion of Mythology, Architecture, and Experimental Painting

Stoicheff draws inspiration from Los Angeles architecture, particularly her fascination with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House and the Sowden House, whose intricate forms and structures influence her work.

Her studio practice is experimental, blending traditional oil painting with tie-dye, sewing, and even solar-powered lights. Her ongoing exploration of materials reflects themes of power, mythology, and cultural production, both high and low.

Painting as Code, Culture as Canvas

Stoicheff’s paintings echo urban street markings, often dismissed as arbitrary but coded with meaning, construction signs, symbols, hidden messages. She challenges conventional composition, using abstract brushstrokes and unexpected marks that disrupt the viewer’s expectations.

Her work sits at the intersection of politics, fashion, music, celebrity, and mythology, all woven into personal experience. Through her inventive techniques and material experimentation, she engages with strategies of power, how they manifest, how they influence, and how they are felt.

About the Artist

A graduate of Pennsylvania State University (BFA) and Bard College (MFA, 2005), Stoicheff has received numerous accolades, including:

The Robert Motherwell Dedalus Foundation Master of Fine Arts Fellowship in Painting

The Elaine de Kooning Painting Award

Featured cover artist for Little Star Weekly and New England Review

Currently based in Greenpoint, New York, Stoicheff continues to push the boundaries of painting, merging technology, tradition, and myth.