An American in Paris
From Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Black Bean Soup of 1962 to Jeff Koons’ Hole III of 2008, an insight into a private art collection captures a panorama of the avant-garde of the past half-century. ‘An American in Paris: Works from a Private Collection’ is on display at the Gagosian Gallery in Paris.
The selection from a bold and discerning American collection highlights pivotal and often large-scale works from seven contemporary artists who have persistently engaged unexpected subject matter. This approach is seen in the crusted surface of a black canvas by Damien Hirst, which upon closer scrutiny, is comprised by thousands of dead flies. The exhibition also provides varied approaches to shared subject matter; for example, Twombly’s immense Rose painting provides a gestural counterpart to Warhol’s flat, affectless Flowers.
Some recent sculptures convey the technical, material, and philosophical diversity at play in three-dimensional form. Forgotten Love (2007), Hirst’s massive reimagining of a medicine cabinet, displays a multitude of jewel-like pills meticulously fabricated from resin, a reminder of the increasing reliance on supplements. Expanding on his enduring fascination with childhood experiences and childlike consciousness, Koons’ Balloon Swan (Red) (2004-11) reconceives a child’s party object as a mesmerising monumental form.
‘An American in Paris: Works from a Private Collection’ is on display at the Gagosian Gallery, Paris until Saturday 3 May 2014.
—
Subscribe to fluoroNotice here.
