Tag: Mark Bradford

Mark Bradford at Hauser & Wirth

The monumental mixed media artwork ‘Manifest Destiny’ dominates the first room of Mark Bradford’s exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, its tattered surfaces giving it the feeling of a barely surviving relic, its huge scale making it unavoidable.  Emblazoned with a phrase, ‘Johnny Buys Houses,’ that brings to mind road-side signage for fly-by-night real estate operatives and titled after a term that describes relentless European expansion across the North American continent, the piece signals dubious practices with regard to land, property and ownership. (On view in Chelsea through July 28th).

Mark Bradford, Manifest Destiny, mixed media, dimensions variable, ’23.

Mark Bradford in ‘Epic Abstraction’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hung in the spot long occupied by an iconic Jackson Pollock drip painting, and inspired by Clyfford Still’s monumental abstractions, Mark Bradford’s mixed media on canvas artwork declares that non-representational art is still cutting-edge in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s ‘Epic Abstraction’ rehang.  The bleach and water degraded layered paper surfaces of ‘Duck Walk’ reference Chuck Berry’s famous dance move, also adopted by ballroom voguers, maintaining Pollock’s scale and dynamic movement while prompting alternative considerations of race, gender and history.  (Ongoing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

Mark Bradford, Duck Walk, mixed media on canvas, 2016.

Mark Bradford at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

LA artist Mark Bradford takes full advantage of his new affiliation with Hauser & Wirth Gallery and their huge gallery space with this piece, titled ‘Waterfall.’ Bradford is known for embedding cords and other materials in his paper-on-canvas artworks; here, he has pulled thick cords away from his ‘paintings,’ bringing the paper with them. Hung over a rafter, the cascade gives new life to action painting. (In Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

 Mark Bradford, Waterfall, mixed media, dimensions variable, 2015.

Mark Bradford at Sikkema Jenkins & Co

Mark Bradford, We May Be Running Out of a Past, mixed media collage on canvas, 102 x 144 inches, 2012.
Mark Bradford, We May Be Running Out of a Past, mixed media collage on canvas, 102 x 144 inches, 2012.

Mark Bradford is back with more of the mixed media collage/decollage canvases that have made his reputation as a leading contemporary abstract artist, like this mixed media on canvas piece, ‘We May Be Running Out of a Past.’  His latest solo show at Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co opened this evening, showcasing eight huge, vibrantly colored pieces that don’t evidence a new direction for the artist but do explain his popularity. (Through Dec 15th .)