Joyce Pensato's passion for ambient muck

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Show Us Your Walls
By Randy Kennedy

After working for more than 30 years in one studio, Joyce Pensato moved to this new one about a year ago. Her paintings are derived from her eclectic collection of toys and figurines. Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

NEW YORK---Even among painters who thrive in the existential slop of a messy studio, Ms. Joyce Pensato, 75, is a local legend. The longtime subjects of her chaotically elemental portraits — cartoon characters like Batman, Mickey Mouse, Felix the Cat, Homer Simpson and, more recently, Stan Marsh from “South Park” — are derived from her collection of toys or figurines, which are strewn around the floor, crowded into shelves and pinned to the walls, each covered in the paint drizzle and ambient muck that is part of Ms. Pensato’s process. [link]