ART-PRESENTATION: Brice Marden
Brice Marden has had a profound impact on painting today. While there has been a sea change in Art Movements, Marden has unwaveringly adhered to modernist principles of abstraction. From his early monochrome paintings to landscapes of China or the Greek Island Hydra, he composed of vivid and calligraphic loops and webs, Marden’s deeply personal work incorporates multiple art historical and cultural inspirations.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Gagosian Gallery Archive
Brice Marden in his solo exhibition at Gagosian Gallery in London presents new paintings. Recently, Marden has turned his attention to the qualities of monochrome again, turning his gaze to the expansive possibilities of terre verte (green earth), an iron silicate/clay pigment. Terre verte came into use during the Renaissance, its greenish hue and innate transparency serving as a base to balance flesh tones, Marden first used it in connection with the “Grove Group” paintings of the ‘70s. Since resuming his engagement with terre verte Marden has begun layering oil paint of this single color, focusing his conditions in order to heighten them, so to speak. For a series of ten new, identically sized paintings measuring 243×182 cm, he has employed ten different brands of terre verte oil paint, each a variation on the indefinable hue. The slow-drying paint is thinned and applied gradually to the canvas in many successive veils, building a surface of transparent yet intense color. The contingent residue of these layers forms a visible record of the painting process at the lower edge of each canvas. With the new paintings, Marden also exhibits “Eastern Moss” (2012-15), a monochrome painting in nine joined panels, each a different shade of terre verte. Brice Marden attended Florida Southern College, Lakeland from 1957-58 and received his BFA from Boston University’s School of Fine and Applied Arts in 1961. Marden then studied at Yale’s School of Art and Architecture, receiving his MFA in 1963. Studying under artists including Alex Katz and Jon Schueler, alongside Richard Serra and Chuck Close, Marden developed his early aesthetic: large, rectangular monochromatic panels with a particularly muted palette. Following school, Marden moved to New York, where he worked as a guard at the Jewish Museum. This job gave him the opportunity to comprehensively study Jasper Johns, who was honored with a retrospective in 1964. He continued his personal studies the following summer in Paris where he took interest in Alberto Giacometti and Jean Fautrier. Once again living in New York, he began working as Robert Rauschenberg’s assistant in 1966. 1966 also was the year of his first solo show at the Bykert Gallery, where he introduced his ubiquitous oil-beeswax paintings. By mixing his oil paint with beeswax, Marden reduced the shine of the paint while increasing the texture of the painted surface. The result, a dense painted surface, absorbed light while reflecting it, defining a unique aesthetic that characterizes this period of Marden’s work. Later in his career, Marden’s paintings became reflections of his experiences and travels. A 1971 visit to the Greek island of Hydra prompted an intense interest in light and landscape, visible in an intensified color palette. Visits to Thailand, Sri Lanka and India introduced Marden to the cultural history, landscape and traditions of Asia. “The Masters of Japanese Calligraphy” exhibition (1984) exacerbated his interest and prompted Marden to master the art form, resulting in the highly acclaimed, wonderfully calligraphic “Cold Mountain” series (1989-91). More recent work has grown in size as in 2000’s “The Propitious Garden of Plane Image”.
Info: Gagosian Gallery, 20 Grosvenor Hill, London, Duration: 4/10-16/12/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.gagosian.com
