To Bend the Ear of the Outer World - Conversations on Contemporary Abstract Painting

This book was published on the occasion of To Bend the Ear of the Outer World: Conversations on contemporary abstract painting at Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill and Davies Street, London. Curated by Gary Garrels, this expansive exhibition—presenting new and recent works by more than forty artists—examines the significance of abstract painting today, from Garrels’s perspective. Juxtaposing a diverse range of approaches to contemporary abstraction, it brings together paintings by three generations of artists from the Americas, United Kingdom, and Germany. This fully illustrated catalogue contains reproductions of the exhibited paintings paired with remarks on abstraction and process by the artists, along with biographies for each. It includes a preface by Larry Gagosian and an essay by Garrels in which he recounts his own lifetime engagement with abstraction and offers insights into the organization of the exhibition. The cover features the title of the exhibition, which was derived from a verse by Frank O’Hara, intaglio printed in nine colors. To Bend the Ear of the Outer World is the conceptual successor of Oranges and Sardines (2008–09), an exhibition of abstract painting organized by Garrels at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, which included work by some of the same artists. The titles of both exhibitions are derived from verses by O’Hara. articipating artists include Tomma Abts, Richard Aldrich, Tauba Auerbach, Frank Bowling, Mark Bradford, Cecily Brown, Vija Celmins, Matt Connors, Tomm El-Saieh, Jadé Fadojutimi, Suzan Frecon, Katharina Grosse, Mark Grotjahn, Wade Guyton, David Hammons, Mary Heilmann, Thilo Heinzmann, Richard Hoblock, Jacqueline Humphries, Suzanne Jackson, Jennie C. Jones, Brice Marden, Helen Marden, Julie Mehretu, Oscar Murillo, Albert Oehlen, Laura Owens, Nathlie Provosty, David Reed, Gerhard Richter, Amy Sillman, Pat Steir, Ryan Sullivan, Lesley Vance, Charline von Heyl, Mary Weatherford, Stanley Whitney, Pamela Helena Wilson, Terry Winters, Christopher Wool, and John Zurier.