Glass and Mirror Paintings

David Salle

New York

Jan 23–Mar 6, 1999January 23–March 6, 1999

39 Greene St

New York, NY 10013

Lehmann Maupin is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by New York artist David Salle. This will be Salle's first exhibition in New York in four years. A major mid-career retrospective of David Salle's work will open this spring at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and will then travel to the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna, the Castello di Rivoli in Turin and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. In addition, Walter Hopps is organizing a traveling show to open in the fall of 1999 at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Monterrey, Mexico.

Glass and Mirror Paintings will be an exhibition of six new paintings accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with a text by Molly Nesbit. The catalogue will be available in early February. In these paintings, Salle continues an exploration of reflection, disjunction and fragmentation through a mysterious and suggestive juxtaposition of narrative elements. Each painting is an intricate composition of canvas panels, linen panels, both oil and acrylic paints and inset canvases expertly organized with an attention to surface which combines an interest in both figuration and abstraction. Crystal glasswares with random inscriptions are lined up against a horizontal black ground. Panels are stacked side to side with both still lifes and color abstractions painted on grounds of blurry stripes and unfinished patches of color. Lines of color weave a bright plaid but stop before completing their pattern. Small portraits pop up as insets in the larger panels. Circus performers and dancing bears hold themselves mid-performance in precarious moments of balance.

David Salle (b. 1952, Norman, OK; lives and works in New York, NY), was born in 1952 and raised in Wichita, Kansas. Salle attended California Institute of Arts (CalArts) in Los Angeles, receiving a B.F.A. in 1973 and an M.A. in 1975. A member of the influential Pictures Generation, Salle combines popular, or commercial imagery with images made from direct observation and a range of art historical references to create a personal pictorial language. His work features a sophisticated and highly intuitive approach to composition, one that suggests new associations and relationships between familiar (or un-familiar) subjects. Salle’s multi-layered works do not rely on subject matter alone, however—his paintings pack an immediate formal impact and present multiple points of entry for the viewer. Built to draw the eye through and across the picture plane, they reward close looking and prolonged contemplation.

Solo exhibitions of Salle’s work have been organized at Times Square Arts, New York, NY (2024); Edward Hopper House Museum, Nyack, NY (2024); Lehmann Maupin, Seoul, Korea (2023); Gladstone Gallery, Brussels, Belgium (2022); the Brant Foundation, Greenwich, CT (2021); Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France (2020); Galeria Javier Lopez & Fer Frances, Madrid, Spain (2019); Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (CAC Málaga), Málaga, Spain (2016); Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX (2015); Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2014); Metropolitan Opera House, New York, NY (2012); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico (2000); Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung, Ludwig, Vienna, Austria (2000); Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy (2000); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (1999); and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain (1999).

Learn about the artist