First published on 12 June 2018
Mary Heilmann: Memory Remix
‘The kind of thinking that goes into figuring out how to do a dive–a jackknife, or a somersault–you conceptualise geometry in a physical way for your own body. And then thinking geometrically to make something hang on the wall and stick out from the wall is a kind of similar type of thinking. Actually physically doing geometry.’
Mary Heilmann draws from her memories of the distinctive colours and lines of the West Coast’s landscape and surf culture. Born and raised in California, Heilmann’s early influences remained dormant in her life and work for many years in paintings that innovatively navigate between abstraction and allusion. Waves and Particles (1989), for example, illustrates her early interest in physics and speaks to her study of the ocean’s patterns and geometries through a bold palette mimicking the vibrancy of West Coast mid-century modern architecture and design.
Memory Remix, Mary Heilmann’s first Los Angeles solo exhibition in over 20 years, is a survey of paintings, ceramics, and furniture in which the artist’s unwavering dedication to abstraction merges with sly references to her favourite landscapes, songs, movies, and Mexican weavings.
