Estate of Etel Adnan
Etel Adnan
Untitled, c. 1970
Pastel on paper
9.5 x 11.8 inches (24 x 30 cm)
Framed: 13.25 x 15.5 x 1.6 inches (33.7 x 39.4 x 4.1 cm)
Pierre Alechinsky
Dernier coucher, 1975
Acrylic on paper mounted on canvas
59.06 x 47.24 inches (150 x 120 cm)
Günther Förg
Untitled, 1994
Acrylic on paper
77.95 x 58.07 inches (198 x 147.5 cm)
Ana Mendieta
Untitled, c. 1984.
Graphite on paper
11.75 x 8.25 inches (29.8 x 21 cm)
Framed: 19 x 15 x 1.5 inches (48.3 x 38.1 x 3.8 cm)
Hélio Oiticica
Untitled, 1958
Gouache on cardboard
11.6 x 13 inches (30 x 33 cm)
Framed: 23.1 x 24 x 1.75 inches (58.7 x 61 x 4.4 cm)
Michelle Stuart
Galesteo, 1977
Earth and rock-indentations from site, muslin-mounted rag paper
77 x 62 inches (195.6 x 157.5 cm)
Galerie Lelong & Co. (Paris and New York), are pleased to participate in Art Basel "OVR:20c", with On paper, an online showcase dedicated to works made during the previous century that will run from October 28 to 31, 2020.
Our presentation includes works on paper by Etel Adnan, Pierre Alechinsky, Günther Förg, Ana Mendieta, Hélio Oiticica, and Michelle Stuart. Each artist sourced and employed paper for its formal and inventive qualities, as a medium equal to canvas for their expression, and for some, its political potential.
In the 1970s, towards the end of the war in Vietnam and before the civil war started in Lebanon, Etel Adnan left California for her native Beirut. There, she became a journalist while remaining a painter and was significantly engaged in the defense of peace in a troubled period. Adnan made a series of small works on paper, depicting seemingly abstract compositions with pastel strokes to create poetic landscapes.
As early as the mid-1960s, Pierre Alechinsky decided to work exclusively on paper mounted on canvas; using predominantly Chinese paper, with acrylic paint and India ink. Dernier coucher (1975) is a superb and vividly colored painting, freshly released from the artist’s studio.
Günther Förg carefully chose the size of the sheet in relation with the composition. The paper’s surface and its size were integral to his idea. In this characteristic work from 1994, he wove acrylic brushstrokes into a texture that attracts the viewer deep inside the space of the painting, beyond the surface grid.
Ana Mendieta translated her ephemeral practices in the landscape to independent art objects through sculptures, drawings, photographs, mixed media works, and films. Drawings became increasingly important throughout the artist’s career, serving as a way of “bringing the nature inside.” These works consider a different facet of Mendieta’s investigation of form, imbued with both plastic and symbolic meaning.
Hélio Oiticica, a key member of the Brazilian Neo-Concrete whose influence is still felt all over Latin America, is represented by a Metaesquema–translated as “total system.” Made in a concentrated period from 1957 to 1958, the later Metaesquemas, such as this one, are characterized by a carefully painted grid that is skewed. Geometry and careful calibration of color is used to describe a utopia.
Time and landscape–as geology and history–are enduring motifs of Michelle Stuart’s sculpture, photography and works on paper. One of the few living land artists, she traveled extensively in the U.S. Southwest in the 70s, often identifying a site that was rich in history. Galesteo is a scroll drawing made from crushed red earth from Galesteo, New Mexico, originally the home of the Native American Pueblo community, worked painstakingly into the surface of the paper.
As opposed to canvas, which often requires a studio, preparation and specific tools, paper is often seen by artists as a more spontaneous medium. Our presentation reveals the diversity of these renowned artists’ commitment and exploration to works on paper.
