AT DAWN

BY: Ines Valencia

Cheim Read gallery, in New York, is hosting a fantastic group exhibition titled At Dawn, featuring the works of seven acclaimed artists: Lynda Benglis, Ron Gorchov, Joan Mitchell, Jack Pierson, Sean Scully, Kimber Smith, and Pat Steir, all incredibly big names in the twentieth-century New York art scene.

The title stems from an Emily Dickinson poem. All the artists represented have various things in common, the most obvious being how they all challenged art ideas and practices throughout their careers. Most of them worked with several different mediums and based in New York at some point. Their use of color, abstraction, and other materials made them some of the most celebrated artists of the past century.

LYNDA BENGLIS

American sculptor and visual artist Lynda Benglis was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 1941. She is primarily known for her provocative works and famous “pours.” She was inspired by Jackson Pollock’s paintings but turned the style three-dimensional. Benglis did so by creating puddles on the floor using colored pigmented latex, which made the works fall into the realm of sculpture. Her cutting-edge approach and innovative use of different materials like wax and latex (as well as her interest in the representation of gender stereotypes and sensuality in her videos and photographs), have made her one of the most visionary artists alive today.

RON GORCHOV

Ron Gorchov (1930-2020) was an American artist known for his “saddle” paintings, which he created on curved, saddle-shaped surfaces. Later in his career, he created similar works that included multiple panels stacked on top of one another. His paintings (which, like Lynda Benglis’ works, also display both painting and sculpture) contain rich colors and are abstract.
Gorchov passed away this past August. His works are archived and shown at major institutions like MOMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Detroit Institute of Art.

JOAN MITCHELL

Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) was an American painter and printmaker that became one of the young leaders of the Abstract Expressionism movement and was a significant presence in the postwar avant-garde scene in New York. Throughout her career, she created oil paintings, prints, and drawings, and many can be seen in most major institutions today. She remained faithful to her signature one-of-a-kind gestural abstraction style for most of her life and was friends with some of the biggest names in the New York art scene, including other artists in this exhibition.

JACK PIERSON

Born in 1960, Jack Pierson is an American artist who mainly works with photography and sculpture. He is well known for his photographs and word signage installations, like the “At Dawn” piece featured in the exhibit. These word sculptures are fashioned from found objects and arranged to create diverse words and statements. His art is deeply personal and emotional but also allows viewers to interpret it their way.

SEAN SCULLY

Sean Scully (born in Ireland in 1945) is a US-based painter, sculptor, printmaker, and photographer. He is a two-time Turner Prize nominee (1989 and 1993) and moved to New York from London in 1975. Scully is known for his abstract paintings of rich-colored stripes and shapes such as squares and rectangles. He was a crucial figure in the departure from the Minimalist movement in New York towards Abstract Expressionism. He believed that the intimate, human, and emotional elements missing in Minimalist paintings needed to return.
He has had multiple exhibitions worldwide (including the Venice Biennale in 2015), and his work is part of many significant museum collections.

KIMBER SMITH

American abstract painter Kimber Smith created compositions that combined colors and symbols and were subtle yet personal. What made them distinctive is that they move away from the extravagance of most Abstract Expressionist paintings.

PAT STEIR

Although painter and printmaker Pat Steir began working in conceptual art and minimalism (producing works that combined figurative and abstract symbols), in the ’80s, she began creating the abstract drip “Waterfall” paintings for which she is most known. In the mid-2000s, she began making split canvases, like the one featured in the exhibit, a practice which she continues to develop.

 

Gallery visits are by appointment only because of Covid-19. It is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM (more information available on its website.) There is also an online room that allows remote viewing, but the experience of seeing these works together and in-person has to be incredible.