The first exhibition of South-African-born, London-based painter Lisa Brice at Thaddaeus Ropac Paris Marais will be her first solo presentation of her work in France. Through her figurative painting practice, Brice challenges the traditional representations of women in Western art history. The female nude is reclaimed from the male gaze that seeks to disempower women by making them passive objects of male desire. In individual and group portraits, set in studios and bars, women are liberated from the roles of model and male muse. They are shown interchangeably brandishing paint brushes, as they capture their own likenesses (and that of their companions), or at rest, posing in front of mirrors and lounging against doors,  as they smoke cigarettes, breaking down hierarchies between the artist and the model. Whether confronting viewers with a direct gaze or seemingly unaware of their presence, Brice's women stand as empowered figures driven by their own desires, rather than those of the spectator.