Galerie Max Hetzler, London is pleased to present On Paper, a group exhibition exploring the potential of paper as a material across the works of several generations of artists. Celebrating its physical materiality and eclectic nature, the exhibition demonstrates the significance of paper as an autonomous and elevated medium in its own right.
The exhibition opens with a selection of works by Bridget Riley (b. 1931). Working in the traditional medium of gouache on paper, her drawings meticulously map out various tessellations and colour combinations. At times annotated, Riley’s pulsating compositions provide insight into her working methods.
For many artists, drawing represents the cornerstone of artistic practice. Eddie Martinez (b. 1977) develops his intricate pictorial universe through the act of placing pen and paint to paper, using automatic drawing to move freely between abstraction and figuration. Working in ink and coloured pencil, KAWS (b. 1974) portrays his iconic ‘Companion’ figure on textured paper. Emerging from deep violet watercolour, André Butzer’s (b. 1973) renowned ‘Woman’ character is surrounded by an abundance of colourful fruit which, in its dispersion, transforms the picture plane into a delicate interior. Similarly treading the pictorial divide between figuration and abstraction, artists such as Carroll Dunham (b. 1949) and Eleanor Swordy (b. 1987) position drawing within their practices as a space for compositional creativity and potential.
For others, paper offers a realm in which spontaneity and control collide. Harnessing the materiality of paper, Albert Oehlen (b. 1954) balances meticulous precision with a surrendering to chance. Adam Pendleton (b. 1984) blurs the boundaries between modes of image-making to present a language of abstracted form in his monochrome drawings. Katharina Grosse (b. 1961) employs a spray gun to produce her distinctive loops of vibrant colour in paper form, revealing the visual language of her large-scale installations; whilst Sarah Crowner’s (b. 1974) intuitive Stitch maps echo, in intimate form, the undulations of her delicately stitched canvases. Working in watercolour, Grace Weaver (b. 1989) allows colours to bleed and pool into one another in her Flower works, recalling the staining techniques used by artists such as Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler.
Associated with raw immediacy, paper conjures a space in which primal thought becomes tangible object. This moment of translation is evident in the work of Mark Grotjahn (b. 1968), who elicits the impression of dense, leafy foliage in his Untitled (Opaque Landscape), through wavering strokes of rich oil paint. Evoking windows onto pastoral scenes, Günther Förg’s (1952–2013) sixteen-part watercolour from 1998, rendered with crosshatched markings, belongs to his ‘Gitterbilder’ (Grid Paintings) series. In Ida Ekblad’s (b. 1980) tactile, oil-layered surfaces, organic forms such as flowers, clouds and sky emerge and dissolve beneath the viewer’s gaze. With its deep wash of indigo ink, Darren Almond’s (b. 1971) ‘Ephemeris’ work pertains to the trajectory of celestial objects over the course of time.
Similarly exploring the natural world, Tal R’s (b. 1967) vivid drawings of lakes suggest a universe of exuberant colours and palpable rhythm. Jeremy Demester’s (b. 1988) enigmatic trees in watercolour and dry pastel appear otherworldly; whilst Jake Longstreth’s (b. 1977) eucalyptus trees, from Sand Canyon Colorado, are executed with hyper-realistic precision. Approaching the landscape genre with nostalgia and whimsy, Friedrich Kunath’s (b. 1974) scenes of tropical promise encapsulate his playful contemplations on the composite fabrics of life. Rinus Van de Velde (b. 1983) employs paper as a primary material in his practice. Treating drawing with the vernacular of painting, his pastel compositions immerse the viewer in various scenarios from his fictional autobiography. Paper is also at the heart of artistic practice for Walton Ford (b. 1960). His luminous, large-scale watercolours pair historical facts with surreal imaginings, to address intricate relationships between the animal and human kingdoms.
Taking up elements of portraiture with renewed experimentation, Karel Appel’s (1921–2006) large-scale Exodus no.2, 1951, is the oldest work in the exhibition. Appel’s naive, child-like figures are recurring motifs in his practice, treading the threshold between impression and expression. Exemplifying his innovative draughtsmanship, Glenn Brown (b. 1966) simultaneously invokes and transforms Old Master paintings in his foundational drawing practice. In Drawing 2 (after Batoni/Rubens), 2024, Brown’s plumy lines portray a female in profile, from which other faces and forms emerge. In work by Giulia Andreani (b. 1985) and Louise Bonnet (b. 1970), the female subject is championed as a figure of power and resistance. In her signature palette of Payne’s grey, Andreani pays tribute to the French artist Marie-Laure de Noailles, known for her daring eccentricity; and Bonnet, challenging expectations of an idealised female form, portrays a distorted reclining nude.
Thus ranging from the conceptual to the political, the traditional to the experimental, the figurative to the abstract, this exhibition positions paper as a principal art form, attesting to the broad scope and versatility of this ancient medium.
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