Mary Heilmann

Visions, Waves and Roads

23 February - 5 April 2012

London

Considered one of the preeminent contemporary Abstract painters, Heilmann's practice overlays the analytical geometries of Minimalism with the spontaneous ethos of the Beat Generation and the influences of American pop culture. For her exhibition, 'Visions, Waves and Roads' in the South Gallery of Hauser & Wirth London, Savile Row, Heilmann presents a large group of new paintings as well as ceramic sculpture and her distinctive furniture.

Heilmann's paintings such as 'Road Trip' and 'Crashing Wave' are a vibrant retelling of the artist's ongoing life story. These works recall long cross-country road trips or the wild blue and green tones of waves breaking on the shore. They take their inspiration from scenic highways and ocean vistas of the California West coast, Montauk in New York, the north shore of Hawaii, even Mandaka in Spain. Heilmann also pays tribute to the great Modernist master Kazimir Malevich in several paintings. In 'Malevich Spin', she notes his stark Suprematism, quoting his 'Suprematism, 18th Construction' from 1915.

Installed alongside Heilmann's paintings is a group of ceramic tiles dotting the gallery walls. These tiles not only mimic the colour palette of the paintings that they accompany, but also highlight their physical properties – from the drips of paint to the sculptural shapes of her canvasses.

Heilmann once explained, 'Each time I do a show, or am in a group show, I think of it as one installation piece. I think of the people who come to see the work as part of a picture, part of a story. My paintings and sculptures can be seen as representations of thoughts and ideas. I like to scan my eyes around the room and read the show like a storyboard. And I hope my visitors do that too' (Artist's Statement for the Whitechapel Gallery, 2009). To achieve this, she began to include chairs of her own design as part of her installations so that people would stay longer.

For many years, Mary Heilmann has played an influential role for generations of young artists not only through her practice, but also through her teaching and lectures. She was born in San Francisco CA in 1940. Following her studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara and Berkeley, Heilmann moved to New York City where she immersed herself in the contemporary art scene. Heilmann lives and works in New York and Bridgehampton, Long Island.

Installation views

About the Artist

Mary Heilmann

Influenced by 1960s counterculture, the free speech movement, and the surf ethos of her native California, Mary Heilmann ranks amongst the most influential abstract painters of her generation. Considered one of the preeminent contemporary Abstract painters, Heilmann’s practice overlays the analytical geometries of Minimalism with the spontaneous ethos of the Beat Generation, and are always distinguishable by their often unorthodox—always joyful—approach to color and form.

Raised in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Heilmann completed a degree in literature, before she studied ceramics at Berkeley. Only after moving to New York in 1968 did she begin to paint. While most artists at that time were experimenting with the concept of dematerialization and demanding that painting should avoid any references to experience outside the material presence of the work itself, Heilmann opted for painting, rebelling against the accepted rules. ‘Rather than following the decrees of modern, non-representational formalism, I started to understand that the essential decisions taken during the creative process were more and more related to content. The Modern movement was over…’

Since then, Heilmann has created compositions that evoke a variety of associations. Her work may be non-representational and based on an elementary, geometrical vocabulary—circles, squares, grids and stripes—but there is always something slightly eccentric, casual about them. The simplicity of the forms is played down by a deceptive form of nonchalance: the contours are not clearly defined. In some paintings, amorphous forms appear to melt into each other like liquid wax. Splashes of color can be discerned, sharp edges bleed for no apparent reason, and the ductus of the brushstrokes is always perceptible. Heilmann’s casual painting technique conceals a frequently complex structure that only gradually reveals itself to the viewer.