LEONORA CARRINGTON, CECILIA VICUÑA

The exhibition coincides with Cecilia Vicuña: Living Threads at Whitechapel Gallery in London, the first major UK exhibition dedicated to Vicuña’s work. Though separated by geography and generation, Carrington and Vicuña share a deeply intuitive approach to the world, one that dissolves the boundaries between the human, the natural, and the imagined. Both artists draw on myth, ritual, and poetry in their work. Carrington’s mythic visions and hybrid creatures inhabit a realm where the ordinary gives way to the mysterious, while Vicuña’s poetic practice similarly activates overlooked materials, ancestral knowledge, and ecological consciousness to reveal unseen connections between all forms of life.

“Cecilia’s connection to Carrington is not simply an art historical one; it is woven into her own story and artistic formation. Bringing these two extraordinary women artists together offers a special opportunity to present a connection that has remained largely unexplored. As a gallery, we are committed to creating new contexts for artists whose contributions have been historically underrecognized. This exhibition expands the understanding of Cecilia’s work in a meaningful way.” —Rachel Lehmann, Lehmann Maupin

“For more than two decades, we have championed Leonora Carrington’s legacy through scholarship and programming, by introducing her to new audiences around the world, and by placing her work in dialogue with the great artists of her time and ours. The Carrington works we have brought together for this exhibition trace a line from Mexico City to Cecilia’s practice today: more than fifty years later, the method that passed from Carrington to Cecilia in 1969 is still alive in her work. It is a privilege to bring our history with Carrington to this exhibition, organized with Lehmann Maupin, and to welcome it to San Francisco in January.” —Wendi Norris, Gallery Wendi Norris