Pace Gallery presents Overview Effect, a new exhibition by Loie Hollowell at its London gallery, on view from 4 March to 23 May 2026. Marking the artist’s first UK presentation since 2018, the show introduces a new body of paintings that extend Hollowell’s long-standing exploration of the body, perception and transformation through abstraction.

The Overview Effect paintings take their title from the term used by astronauts to describe the cognitive shift that occurs when viewing Earth from space. For Hollowell, it echoes a moment of transcendence experienced during the birth of her second child, when brief pauses between contractions allowed her to observe the process from outside her body. This sense of distance and heightened awareness informs the calm intensity of the new works.

Each painting features two sculptural orbs aligned vertically, their expanding concentric lines intersecting at a central mandorla. Alternately convex and concave, the forms suggest pregnant and empty bodies, planetary systems in orbit, or nested structures that speak to the unity of mother and child. Colour oscillates between vivid primaries and muted, flesh-toned hues, evoking moments of pain and euphoria suspended within a wider, almost cosmic field.

Hollowell has returned to a more intimate scale, allowing for greater chromatic nuance and detail. Across the seven paintings on view, light shifts from dawn to dusk, with subtle references to the Californian landscape shaping the palette.

Autobiographical in nature, her work translates physical and emotional states into structured, sensuous compositions. While her earlier work at Pace London focused on conception, recent series have traced pregnancy, birth and early motherhood, using repetition and rhythm to convey embodied experience.

Image: Loie Hollowell , Overview Effect in yellow with small yellow mandorla , 2025 © Loie Hollowell, courtesy Pace Gallery