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| 1961 Rafina IV (Greece) 11 1/2" x 15 1/2" |
Garth Greenan Gallery, formerly Gary Snyder Gallery, is pleased to announce its inaugural exhibition, Paul Feeley: 1957–1962, an exhibition of paintings, watercolors, and drawings at 529 West 20th Street. Opening on September 5, 2013,
the exhibition is the first presentation of Feeley's work in a New York
gallery since 2008. Twelve of the artist's brightly colored abstract
paintings will be on view, as well as a selection of related landscape
watercolors, none of which has ever before been exhibited. A fully
illustrated catalogue—Feeley's first since 2002—will accompany the
exhibition, with an essay by David Anfam.
The exhibition and its
accompanying publication provide an overview of the artist's work from
1957 to 1962—a time of intense formal, as well as technical innovation
for Feeley. Although classically derived, Feeley's paintings from this
period are looser, more gestural, and less emblematic than his
better-known work from the mid-1960s. In works such as Ios (1957) and Caligula (1959),
exaggerated drips and sensuous looping forms cascade across washy
grounds. They are frozen gestures of sorts, uncertain in their ability
to maintain their gleefully overblown proportions. In later paintings
like Untitled (1962), the forms gradually solidify and become
more evocative of things in the real world—Mediterranean landscapes and
Islamic tile decoration, for example. The actual ebb and flow of the
paint stops and the compositions become more settled and architectural.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa in
1910, Paul Feeley studied painting at Menlo College, Menlo Park,
California and the Art Students League. After completing his training,
Feeley began teaching, first at Cooper Union (1935–1939) and later at
Bennington College. The artist remained at Bennington for 27 years
(1939–1966) and founded its celebrated art department. Committed to the
art of his peers, Feeley exposed his students—among them, Helen
Frankenthaler—to many of the most significant artists of his time. In
addition, while at Bennington, he organized the first retrospective
exhibitions of Hans Hoffmann, Jackson Pollock, and David Smith.
Throughout the 1950s, 1960s,
and 1970s, Feeley had solo exhibitions at many prominent institutions,
including: Tibor de Nagy Gallery (1954, 1955, 1958, New York), Betty
Parsons Gallery (1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1975,
New York), and Kasmin Gallery (1964, London). During this period, his
work was also featured in important museum exhibitions, such as Post Painterly Abstraction (1964, Los Angeles County Museum of Art), The Shaped Canvas (1964, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), The Responsive Eye (1965, Museum of Modern Art), and Systemic Painting (1966,
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), among others. In 1968, the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum mounted a memorial retrospective exhibition of
Feeley's work. More recently, his paintings have been shown at Lawrence
Markey Gallery (1997, 1999, 2002, 2007, 2013, New York and San Antonio)
and Matthew Marks Gallery (2002, 2008, New York).
Feeley's work is featured in
the collections of major museums around the country, including: the
Detroit Institute of Arts; the Fogg Museum, Harvard University; the
McNay Art Museum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern
Art; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum; the Wadsworth Atheneum; and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Garth Greenan Gallery is pleased to represent the Estate of Paul Feeley.
Paul Feeley: 1957–1962 will be on view at Garth Greenan Gallery, 529 West 20th Street (between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues), through Saturday, October 12, 2013. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. For more information, please contact Garth Greenan at (212) 929-1351, or email garth@garthgreenan.com.
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