Mary Lovelace O’Neal (10 February 1942) is known for her paintings that pair bold, monumental scale with layers of unexpected materials to explore deeply personal narratives and mythologies as well as broader themes of racism and social justice and contemporary critical debates. With roots in both Minimalist and Expressionist painting, her imagery has, over years and series, fluctuated between pure abstraction, narrative figuration, and the evocative spaces in between.

The 'Whales Fucking Series', and was inspired by her time in the Bay Area and influenced by the Pacific Ocean. While teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute, Lovelace O'Neal would often visit the beach with her students and draw inspiration from the mating whales off the coastline. Highly disciplined throughout the 70’s, Mary used this series to indulge in abstraction, drawing from what she learned while a student at Howard University and freeing her work from the confines of academic painting while gaining confidence in her own practice. This series features expressive, abstract landscapes, with figurative elements where “persons and objects are jumbled together.” The 'Whales Fucking Series' prominently displays abstracted curved and arched lines, suggesting the body of a whale as it breaches out of the ocean, gliding across lush backdrops of layered brushwork. Lovelace O’Neal has explained, “Whales are associated with freedom and a tremendous intelligence we don’t understand.” Also drawing inspiration from D.H. Lawrence’s poem, “Whales Weep Not!”, with its rich imagery of the lives of whales, Lovelace O'Neal composes her canvases via oil paint, glitter and tape, conveying movement through dynamic brushwork and richness of color.