Small Paintings | 1 - 31 July 1998

SMALL PAINTINGS:
HAND PAINTED PICTURES by Ingo Meller Louise Fishman Juan Uslé Richmond Burton Joan Mitchell Mary Heilmann Bill Jensen Jack Pierson Dona Nelson Eva Hesse Philippe Richard Lynda Benglis

From July 1st to July 31st, 1998 the Cheim & Read Gallery will present SMALL PAINTINGS: Hand Painted Pictures. The artists in this exhibition are connected by their commitment to the handmade picture. Their paintings are characterized by a non-representational, non-ironic, non-narrative, non-sociopolitical position. The intimacy of these works allows for a notable presence of the hand, and for an unmediated direct gesture. Their smallness demands close inspection.

While all the artists here defend the viability of painting, their intentions range from the belief in formal and material beauty as seen in a Mitchell, Meller, Heilmann, Burton, or an Uslé, to the sexual and visceral undercurrents evident in a Pierson, Benglis, Jensen or Hesse. The legitimacy of painting as an autonomous discipline is unquestioned.

There will be an opening for the exhibition on Wednesday evening, July 1st, 1998 from 6 to 8 pm.

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