ON PAPER

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.

January 14 - February 22, 2025

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.

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.