New Mary Corse Exhibition Opens 4/23 at Lehmann Maupin

Lehmann Maupin is delighted to announce the second gallery exhibition of paintings by Mary Corse, featuring new work involving her rare use of color. One of the few female artists associated with the 1960's Light & Space Movement in Southern California, Corse is primarily known for her minimalist, monochromatic white or black paintings. The artist will be present at an opening reception at 536 West 22nd Street on Thursday, April 23 from 6-8PM.

Corse's art practice is rooted in the viewer's perception; she creates works that alter in appearance as they are physically and visually experienced. Reflective vertical bands of paint appear to brighten and become more illuminated, or darken and sink back into the canvas as the viewer changes position in relation to the painting.

Corse achieves this effect by using her unique technique of mixing the acrylic paint with microspheres-tiny reflective glass beads commonly used in the white lines of lane dividers on highways. Brushwork is also an important aspect of Corse's technique, with the artist's hand intentionally left visible on the canvas. Shifting light either exposes the brushwork and texture of the microspheres, or reveals a flattened, uniform surface. Corse's painterly approach defines her work within the Light & Space Movement, setting her apart from her contemporaries who strive to remove all evidence of the artist's touch for an almost mechanically perfect surface.

The 12 new paintings in the exhibition will be displayed according to color-specifically primary colors, referring to traditional color theory in art. Each of the four gallery rooms in Lehmann Maupin's new space at 536 West 22nd Street will feature either red, blue, yellow, or white and black paintings. Infusing these colored bands of paint with light through the microspheres, Corse mimics how human perception of color is an individual and subjective process, with the brain responding to the stimuli produced when incoming light frequencies react to different cells in the eye.

About the artist
Mary Corse (b. 1945, Berkeley, California) received her B.F.A. from the University of California in 1963, and her M.F.A. from the Chouinard Art Institute in 1968. Corse's work has been exhibited in several historically significant recent exhibitions, including Venice in Venice, a collateral exhibition curated by Nyehaus in association with the J.Paul Getty Museum at the 54th Venice Biennale (2011); Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (2011); the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany (2011); and Phenomenal: California Light and Space, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (2011). Her works are included in the permanent collections of major international museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, and other significant public and private institutions. The artist lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

About Lehmann Maupin
Founded in 1996 by partners Rachel Lehmann and David Maupin, Lehmann Maupin has fostered the careers of a diverse group of internationally renowned artists, both emerging and established, working in multiple disciplines and across varied media. With three locations-two in New York and one in Hong Kong-the gallery represents artists from the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Known for championing artists who create groundbreaking and challenging forms of visual expression, Lehmann Maupin presents work highlighting personal investigations and individual narratives through conceptual approaches that often address such issues as gender, class, religion, history, politics, and globalism.

Current & Upcoming Exhibitions
Future Seasons Past, through April 18, 2015, New York, West 22nd Street
Alex Prager, through May 16, 2015, Hong Kong, Pedder Building
Tony Oursler, April 29-June 14, 2015, New York, Chrystie Street
Juergen Teller & Xiang Jing, May 21-June 27, 2015, Hong Kong, Pedder Building