The Virgin, the Poet, and the President

May 5 - June 16, 2001
540 West 26th Street

Press Release

Lehmann Maupin would like to announce an exhibition of new work by Jeffrey Vallance. Born in California, Vallance now lives and works in Sweden, where he teaches at Umeå University. This is Vallance's second solo exhibition at Lehmann Maupin.

Jeffrey Vallance explores miraculous phenomena, paranormal events, and bizarre relationships between the religious and the secular. He explores these issues in various ways – through painting, drawing, video, performance, and the written word (Vallance is a regular contributor to both the L.A. Weekly and Fortean Times, a newspaper of paranormal experiences.) Since the early 1970s, Vallance has shown his work internationally in both traditional museum and gallery settings as well as in more unconventional institutions such as The Liberace Museum in Las Vegas and Ron Lee's World of Clowns Museum in Henderson, Nevada.

"The Virgin, The Poet, and The President" consists of life-size wax sculptures of the Virgin of Guadalupe, poet Dante Alighieri, and former president Richard Nixon. In 1994, Vallance traveled to Mexico City to study the images found within the eyes of a miraculous image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Among the host of historical figures reflected in her eyes, he found the unmistakable visage of Nixon. Dante, whose likeness is based on his actual death mask, is included because of the immense influence the Inferno has had on Vallance's life and work. With these new works, Vallance uses the peculiar medium of wax to continue his personal mythology of bizarre theories and unusual associations.

Exhibition Works

The Virgin of Guadalupe, 2000 wax, cloth, wood, electric lighting, plexi, gold plated silver pin dimensions variable LM2901


Dante, 2000 wax, linen, found shoes dimensions variable LM2902


Richard M. Nixon, 2000 wax, found suit, tie, shoes, watergate tapes dimensions variable LM2903


The Devil Hates Art, 2001 pencil and pen on paper 19.75 x 27.5 inches (unframed) 50.2 x 69.9 cm LM3087


Das Märtyrertum von Felix und Regula und das Schweizer Bank enwesen, 1991 graphite and acrylic on paper 67 x 50 inches 170.2 x 127 cm LM2198


Nixon Funeral (He Came Out Smelling Like a Rose), 1995 color photograph, campaign buttons, memorial services program, potpourri made from memorial flowers 36.5 x 36.5 x 4 inches 92.7 x 92.7 x 10.2 cm LM3187


Prehistoric Dinograms: Man, 2001 pencil, pen, collage on paper 19.5 x 27.5 inches 49.5 x 69.9 cm LM3408


Catholic League's 1998 Report on Anti-Catholicism 1999 report cover, black & white laser copies, signed letters, envelope 29 x 40 inches 73.7 x 101.6 cm LM3188