© Rex Honey 
     Spanish Harlem
      1976
     Courtesy of Larisa Honey.

'We had to destroy it in order to save it.' Painting in New York in the 1970s

2 – 27 October 2012 | New york

"We had to destroy it in order to save it." Painting in New York in the 1970s aims to shed light on the keepers of the lost language of painting, demonstrating that at this moment these artists were not only preserving painterly expression, but redefining it for a new generation. The 1970s was a tumultuous time in American history and by extension, art history. Artists were reflecting this upheaval by incorporating new media and technologies into their artistic practice. While multimedia works were perceived as the most avant-garde, a group of New York painters were radically returning to traditional methods of application, with an emphasis on the handmade in their commitment to the authenticity of painting. These artists were seen at times as “old-fashioned” by their peers and working against the grain of artistic trends. They sought a primal interaction with their work, almost returning to painting as a meditative practice: the desire to paint that has captivated humankind since the cave paintings of Chauvet.

We are honored that the esteemed art historian Robert Pincus-Witten is co-curating the exhibition with our Chairman of Post-War & Contemporary Development, Amy Cappellazzo. The catalogue will feature essays by both Robert Pincus-Witten and Barbara Rose, whose seminal “American Painting: The Eighties” exhibition at the Grey Gallery in 1979 defined a new generation of painters. Looking back on their innovative choices, New York painters in the 1970’s remain a pivotal group in the continuum of the history of art as it reinforces the process, materiality, and act of painting as an essential artistic gesture.

Artists featured Richard Artschwager, Jo Baer, Jennifer Bartlett, Mary Heilmann, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mangold, Brice Marden, Robert Moskowitz, Elizabeth Murray, Blinky Palermo, Dorothea Rockburne, Susan Rothenberg, and Robert Ryman.