SHAPESHIFTERS | LUHRING AUGUSTINE
JUNE 27 - AUGUST 12, 2016
531 West 21st Street
Featured Image:
Imi Knoebel
Kartoffelbild 15, 2012
69 11/16 x 98 13/16 x 4 5/16 in.
(177 x 251 x 11 cm)
© Imi Knoebel; Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Germany. Courtesy of the artist, White Cube, London / Hong Kong, and Luhring Augustine, New York. Photo © Ivo Faber
Luhring Augustine is pleased to present Shapeshifters, a group exhibition including works by Joe Bradley, Jeremy DePrez, Jeff Elrod, Ron Gorchov, Ralph Humphrey, Martin Kippenberger, Imi Knoebel, Robert Mangold, Jeremy Moon, Elizabeth Murray, Kenneth Noland, David Novros, Blinky Palermo, Steven Parrino, Joanna Pousette-Dart, Ruth Root, Frank Stella, Philip Taaffe, and Richard Tuttle.
The exhibition takes its name from the mythological phenomenon known as “shapeshifting,” in which an object or being is capable of assuming another form. The works in this exhibition evoke this phenomenon by deviating from the standard rectilinear format of the frame and defying succinct categorization as paintings. In creating these works, the artists used various techniques including altering the outline of the canvas, building up relief, cutting into the plane, and using materials alternate to traditional canvas as support.
Kenneth Noland
Adjoin, 1980
Acrylic on canvas
89 7/8 x 178 3/4 inches
(228.3 x 454 cm)
© Estate of Kenneth Noland/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
Jeff Elrod
Untitled, 2015
Acrylic and UV ink on canvas
72 x 66 1/2 inches
(182.9 x 168.9 cm)
©Jeff Elrod; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York
Joe Bradley
Policeman, 2007
Stretched vinyl on wood in seven parts
112 x 69 inches
(284.5 x 175.3 cm)
©Joe Bradley; Courtesy of Julie and Edward J. Minskoff, New York, New York
Ron Gorchov
ALIOTH, 2015
Oil on linen
77 x 36 x 10 inches
(195.6 x 91.4 x 25.4 cm)
©Ron Gorchov; Courtesy of the artist, Cheim & Read, New York, and Luhring Augustine, New York
Robert Mangold Attic Series XII,1991 acrylic and black pencil on canvas 8' 8" x 7' 2" (264.2 x 218.4 cm) Photo: Bill Jacobson © 2016 Robert Mangold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Elizabeth Murray
Sentimental Education, 1982
Oil on canvas
127 x 96 inches (322.6 x 243.8 cm)
© 2016 The Murray-Holman Family Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Steven Parrino
Touch and Go, 1989-1995
Enamel on canvas
96 1/16 x 72 inches
(244 x 183 cm)
© Parrino Family Collection. Photographer Robert McKeever. Courtesy Parrino Family Collection, Gagosian Gallery, and Luhring Augustine, New York
Joanna Pousette-Dart
3 Part Variation #5, 2011-2013
Acrylic and canvas on shaped wooden panels
94 x 73 inches
(238.8 x 185.4 cm)
© Joanna Pousette-Dart; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York
Ruth Root
Untitled, 2015
Fabric, plexiglas, enamel paint, and spray paint
105 3/4 x 72 in
(268.6 x 182.9 cm)
© Ruth Root; Courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, and Luhring Augustine, New York
Shaped canvas works became popular in the 1960s as artists sought to emphasize the potential for paintings to be considered objects. Recognizing this movement, curator Lawrence Alloway organized the definitive exhibition The Shaped Canvas at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1964. Alloway presented works by five artists he recognized to be the primary protagonists of this movement, one of whom was Frank Stella. Shapeshifters includes a piece by Stella from that period, along with Richard Tuttle’s 1967 Red Brown Canvas, a late ‘60s multipart work by David Novros, and a rarely seen ‘60s work by the late British artist Jeremy Moon.
The works in this exhibition explore the way that this subgenre of painting has evolved in the work of artists who may identify as painters, but who explore the space between painting and sculpture. While early practitioners such as Robert Mangold embraced a minimal sensibility, the next generation of artists such as Elizabeth Murray and Ralph Humphrey further evolved the practice; Murray’s canvases are explosive and energetic, and Humphrey’s paintings are tactile, with thick and textured surfaces. Contemporary artists such as Jeff Elrod, Jeremy DePrez, and Ruth Root continue to investigate these ideas by using a variety of methods and mediums. Elrod uses the computer to render imagery, questioning the importance of the handmade mark on the canvas; DePrez’s work is illusionistic and optically challenging; and Root’s paintings integrate patterned textiles and varied surface textures.
For further information about the exhibition, please contact Natalia Sacasa at 212.206.9100 or natalia@luhringaugustine.com. For press requests, please contact Caroline Burghardt at 718.386.2745 or caroline@luhringaugustine.com.
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