NOVEMBER 01 - DECEMBER 22, 2007
Emerson Woelffer in the 1990s
Traps of Life
WOE-075-OC
Hackett-Freedman Gallery presents a selection of 1990s paintings by pioneering California abstract expressionist painter Emerson Woelffer (1914-2003), November 2-December 22, 2007. An opening reception will take place on Thursday, November 2, from 5:30 to 7:30pm. This exhibition is the first San Francisco solo show of Woelffer's work since it was last exhibited at Hackett-Freedman in 2002, and it is the first time paintings from this period have been shown in San Francisco. (Hackett-Freedman began representing the Woelffer estate earlier this year.) A full-color catalogue with an essay by art historian and curator Henry T. Hopkins accompanies the exhibition.
Woelffer often referred to himself as an abstract surrealist and his use of "psychic automatism" resulted in a body of work that speaks in a deeply personal, as well as universal, language. His works from the 1990s are a brilliant synthesis of lifelong interests in surrealism, jazz, Asian art and calligraphy, and tribal art. The pared-down palettes, often just white calligraphic lines or Zen-like sprays laid down on black grounds (on canvas as well as paper), evince his engagement with Asian art and his extraordinary command of line, which he continuously explored as a formal device. These ebullient, confident compositions possess an overt musicality, using improvisation, tempo, and motif-Woelffer was an accomplished jazz drummer-to generate a brilliant fusion of color line, and form that represent a career devoted to intense observation and experimentation.
Paintings in the exhibition include works from his Girl Before a Mirror series, an extended exploration and homage to the eponymous work by Picasso, Woelffer's favorite painting, as well as his noted Chair series. This works are a careful distillation of Woelffer's artistic concerns, with thinly washed surfaces punctuated by thick impasto textures. Minimalist and highly calligraphic in nature, the paintings in this exhibition celebrate Woelffer's singular vision and talent.
Emerson Woelffer was instrumental in bringing the ideas of European modernism to Los Angeles at a time when the art scene there was disconnected from avant-garde movements in New York and San Francisco. A leading abstract expressionist, Woelffer was praised by his peers Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Robert Motherwell, but his geographical distance from the New York School resulted in a quieter career. A legendary teacher, he inspired generations of California artists, first at Los Angeles's Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts) and later at the Otis College of Art and Design, where he taught until 1989. His students included Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, and Joe Goode.
Emerson Woelffer's work is at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, among many others. In January 2008, Woelffer will be the subject of a solo exhibition at the legendary Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center. Woelffer taught at the legendary art school in 1949 at the request of Buckminster Fuller.
Hackett-Freedman Gallery represents the Estate of Emerson Woelffer.
