Fresh Paint

June 29 - August 19, 2005
540 West 26th Street

Press Release

Lehmann Maupin would like to announce Fresh Paint, an invitational exhibition presenting the work of five painters: Steven Black, David Deutsch, Angela Dufresne, Christian Hellmich, Fabien Rigobert. This exhibition is the first time many of these artists have exhibited in a New York gallery, and many have made works exclusively for this show. Each of the painters in "Fresh Paint" reduces or exaggerates architectural space, depicting contrived interiors or exteriors. Some of these settings are fictionalized, others completely devoid of narrative. They are, in effect, non-space and the "every-place" at the same time.

Steven Black paints his subjects from still life. His friends read epic stories to him while he painstakingly paints their portrait over the course of months. Black paints the body heavily and intricately, while completely reducing the background space to almost nothing, with little relation to the figure. Instead, only a shadow of space remains. The panoramic landscapes of David Deutsch maintain a near surveillance quality achieved through Deutsch's removed perspective. Painted from an aerial or side view in order to distance the viewer, Deutsch's paintings create a visual paradox, appearing inhabited and abandoned, inviting and foreboding all at once. Angela Dufresne paints places that are familiar and foreign at the same time. She creates fictional tableaus with her titles whereby the viewer is invited into a world where different narratives collide. Her work is currently on view at "Greater New York" at P.S. 1. The buildings of Christian Hellmich are simply exteriors in space, buildings that are strictly anonymous. There is no presence of a functional purpose or human experience in these paintings. For Hellmich, painting becomes an exercise in taxonomy rather than story telling. Fabien Rigobert's inclusion in "Fresh Paint" demonstrates his approach to video "as painting". In the single-channel video "Topanga Ground" he creates a contrived living space outdoors, treating this natural surrounding as an improvised interior, wherein his subjects move about freely.

For more information please contact us at info@lehmannmaupin.com or 212 255 2923.

Press

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Exhibition Works

CHRISTIAN HELLMICH Imbiss, 2005 oil on canvas 94.49 x 78.74 inches 240 x 200 cm LM8829


ANGELA DUFRESNE Margaret Antonioni and Catherine Pearl in Cedar Rapids, MI c. 2046, 2004 oil on canvas 90 x 72 inches 228.6 x 182.9 cm Courtesy of Monya Rowe Gallery LM8820


FABIEN RIGOBERT Topanga Ground, 2005 single-channel video 2 minutes 24 seconds Edition of 5 LM8877


STEVEN BLACK 2004.36, 2004 oil on canvas 31.5 x 25.59 inches 80 x 65 cm LM8905


DAVID DEUTSCH Orchard, 2005 flash on canvas 44 x 80 inches 111.8 x 203.2 cm\ LM8987


CHRISTIAN HELLMICH Ohne Titel 4, 2005 oil on canvas 86.61 x 66.93 inches 220 x 170 cm LM8794


ANGELA DUFRESNE Me and Bruce Lee and another famous yet un-nameable man on the shore in front of an unmade building designed by Frank Lloyd Zrigth called Donahue Triptych, 2004 oil on canvas 66 x 78 inches 167.6 x 198.1 cm Courtesy of Monya Rowe Gallery LM8821


CHRISTIAN HELLMICH Kiosk II, 2005 oil on canvas 70.87 x 102.36 inches 180 x 260 cm LM8830


FABIEN RIGOBERT South Flower 2, 2005 single-channel video 1 minute 10 seconds Edition of 5 LM8876


DAVID DEUTSCH Rodeo, 2005 oil on canvas 26 x 56 inches 66 x 142.2 cm LM8920


STEVEN BLACK 2005.03, 2005 oil on canvas 39.37 x 31.5 inches 100 x 80 cm LM8906