Christina Major’s "Marilyn Strong Women" is a striking contemporary portrait that blends expressive realism with text-based abstraction, creating a visually compelling homage to Marilyn Monroe. This 49 x 49-inch original painting features intricate brushwork that captures the star’s luminous beauty, with layers of hand-painted text seamlessly integrated into the composition, symbolizing the complexity behind her iconic image. The interplay of warm and cool tones enhances depth and emotion, while the bold, overlapping typography invites viewers to reflect on themes of femininity, identity, and cultural perception.
Christina Major is a portrait painter interested in the ways the identity of both artist and subject can coexist in a painting. Major's current creative research focuses on the traditional form of the portrait as a powerful form of representing an individual and how meaning can be expanded through scale, brushstroke, color, texture, composition, and the many variables that portraiture deals with.
This one-of-a-kind oil painting is signed by Major on the back. The artwork is wired and ready to hang. It does not require framing. Free local Los Angeles area delivery. Affordable Continental U.S. and International shipping available. A certificate of authenticity issued by the art gallery is included.
Major expands the traditional portrait painting by cataloging her memories and thoughts along with the thoughts of the subject - at times recording quotes from the person depicted - by painting under, into and over the subject in her handwriting. Major’s “hand” is visible both in the brushstroke and in the cursive writing, preserving her identity in a “readable” way both literally and through graphology, or handwriting analysis.
Major's paintings are created with oil on gesso primed canvas. Her portraits feel overwhelming and have a “larger-than-life” presence that cannot be ignored. The large scale also creates a different “reading” of the painting depending on the viewing distance. Up close, areas may be read abstractly due to the emphasis on defined brush strokes, dabs of energetic color, and texture that is formed by the cursive text. From far away, the image coalesces from the fragmented strokes and layers of writing, drawing focus to the likeness of the subject painted.
Text incorporated into this original painting: Marilyn Monroe - Strong Women
This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes. It's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. I don't mind living in a man's world, as long as I can be a woman in It. A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night. If you're gonna be two-faced at least make one of them pretty. The nicest thing for me is sleep, then at least I can dream. Strong women don't have attitudes, we have standards. I believe things happen for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies. so you eventually start to trust no one but yourself.
Artplex Gallery has been representing and exhibiting Christina Major's original artworks since 2022. The gallery has been a 1stdibs partner since 2014 with consistently excellent reviews from clients worldwide. The gallery exhibits a well-curated selection of original artworks representing a broad spectrum of major international artists. Artplex Gallery is known to provide accurate descriptions, images, reliable services, communication, and delivery.
REPRESENTATION
Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
EXHIBITIONS
2022 Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Typographical Abstraction and Literary Portraiture, West Palm Beach, FL
2020 Evening on Antique Row, West Palm Beach, FL
Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
2019 Evening on Antique Row, West Palm Beach, FL
Contemporary Focus, Palm Beach County Convention Center, FL
Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
2018 Art Wynwood, Miami, FL
2016 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
2015 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
2014 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
“Above the Couch”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
“Immersed”, Gallery 2014, Hollywood, FL
2012 “Propria”, Solo Exhibition, Gallery & More, Goteborg, Sweden
2011 “Natural Interactions”, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
“Collaboration”, Ursula’s Fine Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Christina Major, For Art Sake, Hollywood, FL
“Inward & Outward”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
2010 Christina Major, For art Sake, Hollywood, FL
Gallery 101, Ft Lauderdale, FL
“Mediums Exhibit”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
Gallery 101, Ft Lauderdale, FL
Area 23 Gallery, Miami, FL
“20 x 20”, Area 23 Gallery, Miami, FL
“Components of Self”, Schmidt Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2009 “The Bridging Principle”, The Armory, West Palm Beach, FL
2008 “New Talent”, Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL
2007 “Visualizing Race”, University Galleries, Boca Raton, FL
2006 “No Transfat”, The Ritter Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
EDUCATION
Florida Atlantic University – Boca Raton, Fl
Masters in Fine Art, May 2010
Florida Atlantic University – Boca Raton, Fl
Bachelors in Fine Art, May 2007
Palm Beach State College – Lake Worth, Fl
Associate Degree in Graphic Design, May 2003