Oscar Murillo, manifestation (2020-2022), via Gagosian

This summer at its Grosvenor Hill, London location, Gagosian presents To Bend the Ear of the Outer World: Conversations on contemporary abstract painting, an exhibition of new and recent works by more than forty artists from the Americas, United Kingdom, and Germany. The exhibition has been organized by guest curator Gary Garrels, who, in collaboration with the artists, has selected a single painting by each, with most works presented here for the first time. This is Gagosian’s first exhibition to be sited across its two galleries in Mayfair, at Grosvenor Hill and Davies Street.

Cecily Brown, It’s not yesterday anymore (2022), via Gagosian

The exhibition in London examines the significance of abstract painting today, from Garrels’s perspective. Juxtaposing a diverse range of approaches to contemporary abstraction, the exhibition brings together works by three generations of artists, including some never before shown by Gagosian. At its core are notions of painting and installation as modes to realize and emphasize both artist and artwork in relation to each other, allowing fertile ground for the visitor to delve into the works, explore their shared concepts and divergent notions, and build new networks of meaning.

Jadé Fadojutimi, And willingly imprinting the memory of my mistakes (2023), via Gagosian

That intensity of engagement informs the ways in which these artists continue to push the boundaries of abstraction. Avoiding systematic or theoretical restrictions, they are united by an expressive subjectivity, developing their practices in dialogue with their peers and in relation to over a century of innovation in nonrepresentational art making. The multiplicity and vitality of works on view speak to the continued relevance of abstract painting. The result is a show of remarkable expressive range. Cecily Brown’s immense canvas contends elsewhere with similar tones in the work of Frank Bowling, while its gestures and scale find similar echo in the nearby work of Jadé Fadojutimi, while elsewhere, minimalist gestures by Brice Marden open different dialogues entirely.

Brice Marden, Rivers (2021-2022), via Gagosian

Throughout, one is offered ample opportunity to explore these works and their shifting series of complements and counterpoints. The show closes August 25th.

– D. Creahan

Read more:
To Bend the Ear of the Outer World [Exhibition Site]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 20th, 2023 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Art News, Featured Post, Show. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.