Mary Heilmann
M + M 81
M + M 81
2020 Acrylic on canvas 61 x 45.7 x 3.8 cm / 24 x 18 x 1 1/2 in (each) USD 250,000
‘It’s funny that you can get such a lot of powerful juice out of such an old, used form, but it is amazing that you can.’—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.
M + M 81 (2020) is based largely on an early cover of BOMB Magazine Heilmann designed with her former partner Mark Magill for the November 1982 issue. Heilmann has made multiple works across various mediums – paintings, watercolors, and ceramics – which are characterized by a distinct black and white checkerboard pattern with dripped red paint over top. For Heilmann, M + M 81 (2020) is, in her words, an ‘abstraction of tragedy,’ signifying the end of her relationship that year.
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.