For his third solo exhibition with Lehmann Maupin, Puerto Rican artist Angel Otero will present a group of new paintings. Dedicated to continuing the tradition of abstraction, Otero is an innovator in the genre. He begins with a reference to an object or image that holds personal or historical significance, and then abstracts the reference through his process-based approach, resulting in work that is visually autonomous from the original imagery. The artist will be present for an opening reception at the gallery on Saturday, November 7 from 6-8PM.

The result of constant experimentation, Otero’s paintings begin by reproducing reference images in thick oil paint on a large plate of glass. Once the paint is almost dry, the artist scrapes the “oil skin” from the surface, flaying, draping, and collaging it across a large canvas, resulting in a wholly new composition. In past work, the paint more dramatically creased, pinched, and folded as the artist piled layer upon layer of oil skins on the canvas, further abstracting the image.