Figure in the Landscape

November 15, 2000 - January 13, 2001
540 West 26th Street

Press Release

Lehmann Maupin is pleased to announce Figure in the Landscape, a group exhibition organized by Ronald Jones.

Figure in the Landscape, the first of two such exhibitions at Lehmann Maupin, is a meditation on traditional subjects in the history of art, which have remained steadfast avenues for expression in contemporary art. Since Philip Guston's dramatic turn toward representation, the figure and the landscape have been consistently seen in relation to abstract art. It was 1966 when Guston declared: "American abstract art is a lie, a sham, a cover-up for a poverty of the spirit, a mask to mask the fear of revealing oneself. . . . It is laughable this lie. Anything but this." And so it is appropriate that the exhibition reaches back to Guston in order to begin tracing his influence and the impression he has left on artists as diverse as Anna Gaskell, David Salle, Carroll Dunham, Matthew Ritchie, and Monique Prieto who are represented in this exhibition. These artists have inherited strains of Guston's passion and sensibility within their own highly eccentric embrace of picturing the figure in the landscape.

In the spring of 2001 the pendant exhibition to Figure in the Landscape will be presented at the gallery. Works by Guston, Louise Bourgeois, Matthew Barney, Bruce Nauman, Robert Gober and others will be featured. A book presenting essays by significant historians, art critics, and authors will be published on this occasion to memorialize these two important exhibitions. Ronald Jones has organized both exhibitions.

Exhibition Works

PHILIP GUSTON Ledge, 1979 oil on canvas 48 x 60 inches 121.9 x 152.4 cm LM2798


ANNA GASKELL Sunday Drive, 2000 eight c-prints mounted on aluminum dimensions variable Edition of 5 LM2822


DAVID SALLE Angel, 2000 oil and acrylic on canvas and linen Two panels: 72 x 96 inches 182.9 x 243.8 cm LM2722


MONIQUE PRIETO Pic-n-Choose, 2000 acrylic on canvas 60 x 48 inches 152.4 x 121.9 cm LM2801


CARROLL DUNHAM Orange glove, 2000 mixed media on linen 50 x 59 inches 127 x 149.9 cm LM2834


CARROLL DUNHAM Over the water, 1999/2000 mixed media on linen 49 x 57 inches 124.5 x 144.8 cm signed, dated, front upper left and back LM2835


MONIQUE PRIETO Swell, 1996 acrylic on canvas 33 x 55 inches 83.8 x 139.7 cm LM2815


MATTHEW RITCHIE Going South, 2000 oil and marker on canvas 52.25 x 96 inches 132.7 x 243.8 cm LM2850


MATTHEW RITCHIE Spirits of the Air, 2000 oil and marker on canvas 84 x 60 inches 213.4 x 152.4 cm LM2848