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QUEENS OF THE NIGHT

"As my sight diminished, I began abstracting forms and relying more on imagination and memory than visual perception. In many of these paintings done in the decade of the 1980s, I was inspired by the color and glamor, but also the dark side of what lies beneath much of  the shiny surface of Hollywood."

—Barbara Romain

 

The 'Queens of the Night' collection captures the neon-slicked paradox of 1980s Hollywood—its glitter and grit, its allure and loneliness, its pageantry and pain. These works are love letters and exposés, portraits and mirrors, steeped in the dazzling artifice of a city that sells fantasy while burying truth just beneath its surface.

Created as Barbara Romain’s vision began to decline, these paintings mark a transitional moment in her artistic language. Realism gave way to abstraction, detail dissolved into memory, and surface beauty became a portal to deeper emotional textures. She painted what she felt—not just what she could still see. Inspired by drag performers, nightlife, street culture, and the theatrical masks of femininity and survival, this series captures the vibrancy and vulnerability of women navigating the nocturnal world of Los Angeles. 

With bold brushwork and radiant palettes, Barbara elevates her subjects into mythic icons—femme fatales, showgirls, working women, drag queens, single mothers, seekers, survivors. Many were reflections of herself and the women around her: mothers raising children alone, performers building their own stages, artists surviving in the margins.

Color plays a leading role—hot pinks, bruised purples, flaming oranges—all the hues of a Hollywood sunset that never quite fades to black. But beneath the glamor lies tension. Figures blur and fragment. Words emerge. The viewer is asked to look again—to question the spectacle, to find the real person behind the lipstick, the gold lamé, the painted smile.

Queens of the Night is more than a reflection of a time and place—it is a meditation on what it means to be seen, misseen, or unseen altogether. Created by an artist whose own sight was slipping away, these paintings offer a vivid, empathetic vision of womanhood in all its complexity, especially in the liminal hours after sunset, when performance becomes survival and vulnerability becomes power.

 

L.A. BIMBOS/Q.O.T.N.

L.A. BIMBOS/Q.O.T.N.

Oil & Collage, 60’ x 72” Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Alan Jone, Malibu

VIEW OF THE SIGN

VIEW OF THE SIGN

Oil & Collage, 84” x 60”

POOLSHARK

POOLSHARK

Oil & collage, 48” x 72”

HOTEL HOLLYWOOD

HOTEL HOLLYWOOD

Oil & collage, 84” x 60”

SPIRITS OF ROMAIN ST. GATHER FOR A BACKYARD L.A. BBQ

CRUISIN' THE BOULEVARD

CRUISIN' THE BOULEVARD

Oil & collage, 72” x 72”

CHRIS AT THE CAT & FIDDLE

CHRIS AT THE CAT & FIDDLE

Oil, 48” x 36”

XMAS ON HOLLYWOOD BLVD.

XMAS ON HOLLYWOOD BLVD.

Oil, 24” x 36” Collection of F Patti Malkin, LA

SPIKE

SPIKE

Oil, 24” x 36”

INTERIOR ON ROMAIN STREET

INTERIOR ON ROMAIN STREET

Oil, 24” x 36”

JAMMIN' IN THE ALLEY

JAMMIN' IN THE ALLEY

Oil, Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Feinstein, Woodstock, NY

DISAPPEARANCE OF THE MOON

DISAPPEARANCE OF THE MOON

Oil, 24” x 36”

HOLIDAY DINNER

HOLIDAY DINNER

Oil, 48” x 72”

SCUBA BOY AT JEFF'S POOL

SCUBA BOY AT JEFF'S POOL

Oil, 38” x 36”

KEEPING AN EYE OUT

KEEPING AN EYE OUT

Oil, 24” x 20”

TAKING THE PLUNGE

TAKING THE PLUNGE

Oil, 18” x 24”

MADONNA & CHILD

MADONNA & CHILD

Oil, 20” x 16”

AGONY IN THE GARDEN

AGONY IN THE GARDEN

Oil, 22” x 28”

LUNCH WITH ACHMED

LUNCH WITH ACHMED

Oil, 48” x 48”

NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS

NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS

Oil, 48” x 48”

THE BIG APPLE

THE BIG APPLE

Oil, 36” x 36”

MOTHER, WORKER, RULER, WITCH

MOTHER, WORKER, RULER, WITCH

Oil, 72” x 48”

A WOMAN’S WORK IS NEVER DONE

A WOMAN’S WORK IS NEVER DONE

Oil, 72” x 48”

  

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This website was created with support from the National Arts and Disability Center at UCLA and the California Arts Council.

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