Lehmann Maupin returns to West Bund for the fifth time with a solo presentation of signature works by Nicholas Hlobo, alongside a selection of new and recent works by McArthur Binion, Billy Childish, Mandy El-Sayegh, Lee Bul, Marilyn Minter, Tammy Nguyen, Arcmanoro Niles, OSGEMEOS, Lari Pittman, Alex Prager, and David Salle. Together, these artists explore art historical, communal, and personal narratives to assert a sense of place and identity across cultural contexts.
A selection of works by South African artist Nicholas Hlobo anchors the presentation in Booth A122. In these works, Hlobo engages themes of self-discovery and invention, exploring the intersections of his race, gender, and identity–specifically, his identity as a Black, gay man–within the context of his South African heritage. On each canvas, the artist renders semi-anthropomorphic forms through acrylic, leather, rubber, and ribbon, synthesizing the historically-gendered mediums to create amalgamated forms that feel at once familiar, alien, and ancient. Grounded in thick, expressionist mark making or in solid, tactile material and animated through outward movement and fine linework, Hlobo’s creatures exist somewhere between reality and imagination. The works lure viewers into a liminal space that both suggests and resists identification, asking them to navigate a new world free of category and hierarchy.
Highlights from our booth also include signature works by Billy Childish, Marilyn Minter, Arcmanoro Niles, and Lari Pittman. Introspective and emotive, Billy Childish’s sparse and expressionist paintings draw their subject matter from the artist’s own environment and relationships, addressing both personal and shared social and political experiences. Marilyn Minter’s intimate portraits capture women at their most authentic, often highlighting and erocitizing natural, corporeal qualities in dialogue with the hyper-sexualization of women in the media. Similarly, Arcmanoro Niles’ portraiture constitutes both a highly biographical and universal record of contemporary life, transforming the mundane moments of domestic and family life through bold color palettes and art historical references. And finally, Lari Pittman’s densely-layered paintings synthesize a lexicon of signs and symbols (including bells, eggs, animals, and ropes) and various painting techniques to reinterpret both art historical conventions and traditions of decoration and ornamentation.
Concurrently, many of these artists have work on view around the world; Childish’s solo exhibition opens at Lehmann Maupin New York on November 10; Niles’ solo exhibition You Know I Used To Love You [...] runs through January 7 at Lehmann Maupin London; and Pittman’s survey Lo Que Se Ve, Se Pregunta is on view at Museo Jumex in Mexico City from November 4–February 26. Hlobo’s new paintings are also debuting at ADAA: The Art Show in New York from November 3–6.