R.H. Quaytman, “Point de Gaze, Chapter 23” (2011) (Image courtesy Guggenheim)
If artist R.H. Quaytman’s name sounds a little bit mysterious, then that might just be fitting. The painter’s work, made up of series of iridescent, screenprinted images that span a decades-long career, is enchantingly obscure, like a trip through an autobiographical library.
The artist will discuss her work at the Guggenheim museum on Wednesday, November 28, at 6:30 pm, explaining how she draws on abstraction, photography, and site-specific installation to create a new visual vocabulary for painting. The lecture marks Quaytman’s inclusion in Now’s the Time: Recent Acquisitions, an exhibition of recent additions to the Guggenheim’s collection from contemporary artists like Anish Kapoor, Danh Vo, and Ryan Trecartin.
Quaytman was born in 1961 and attended Bard College, as well as Dublin’s National College of Art and Design and the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques in Paris. The artist organizes her paintings into “Chapters,” with each one driven by particular aesthetic impulses, creating series that riff on her own exhibition history, iconic works of art, and architectural spaces. Her entry into the 2010 Whitney Biennial took inspiration from the museum’s Marcel Breuer-designed building and the work of Edward Hopper.
R.H. Quaytman, “4. Exhibition Guide, Chapter 15 [Diagonal Pink]” (2009) (Image courtesy Saatchi Gallery)
Following Quaytman’s aesthetic travels is like falling down a rabbit hole — you’re deep into a personal and artistic narrative before you even realize what’s happening.
Conversations with Contemporary Artists: R.H. Quaytman will be hosted at the Guggenheim (1071 5th Avenue) on Wednesday, November 28, at 6:30 pm and will conclude with Now’s the Time: Recent Acquisitions, on display through January 2, 2013. Tickets are $10.
