Menu

Extended through September 11, 2021

Albert Oehlen

Tramonto Spaventoso

June 10–September 11, 2021
Gagosian at Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles

Installation video Play Button

Installation video

Installation view Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view

Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view

Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view

Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view

Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Installation view

Artwork © Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Works Exhibited

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail) Installation of eight paintingsNorth wall: öbstruct reality / stop sign, 2019Charcoal and acrylic on canvas, in 6 parts, overall: 180 × 297 ¼ inches (457.2 × 754.9 cm)© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail)

Installation of eight paintings
North wall: öbstruct reality / stop sign, 2019
Charcoal and acrylic on canvas, in 6 parts, overall: 180 × 297 ¼ inches (457.2 × 754.9 cm)
© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail) Installation of eight paintingsNortheast wall: get fresh for the weekend, 2020Fabric and charcoal on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 177 ⅝ × 135 ⅛ inches (451 × 343 cm)© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Simon Vogel

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail)

Installation of eight paintings
Northeast wall: get fresh for the weekend, 2020
Fabric and charcoal on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 177 ⅝ × 135 ⅛ inches (451 × 343 cm)
© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Simon Vogel

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail) Installation of eight paintingsEast wall: at the roundabout / she’s always driving – it’s hypnotizing /eastbound and down, 2019Charcoal on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 136 ⅞ × 245 ¾ inches (347.6 × 624 cm)© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail)

Installation of eight paintings
East wall: at the roundabout / she’s always driving – it’s hypnotizing /eastbound and down, 2019
Charcoal on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 136 ⅞ × 245 ¾ inches (347.6 × 624 cm)
© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail) Installation of eight paintingsSouthest wall: chimborazo=south=face, 2020Acrylic and spray paint on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 177 ⅝ × 135 inches (451 × 342.9 cm)© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Simon Vogel

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail)

Installation of eight paintings
Southest wall: chimborazo=south=face, 2020
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 177 ⅝ × 135 inches (451 × 342.9 cm)
© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Simon Vogel

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail) Installation of eight paintingsSouth wall: terrible sunset, 2019Charcoal on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 180 × 105 inches (457.2 × 266.7 cm)© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail)

Installation of eight paintings
South wall: terrible sunset, 2019
Charcoal on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 180 × 105 inches (457.2 × 266.7 cm)
© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail) Installation of eight paintingsSouthwest wall: view into the broken rearview mirror, 2020Charcoal on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 177 ⅝ × 135 ⅛ inches (451 × 343 cm)© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Simon Vogel

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail)

Installation of eight paintings
Southwest wall: view into the broken rearview mirror, 2020
Charcoal on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 177 ⅝ × 135 ⅛ inches (451 × 343 cm)
© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Simon Vogel

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail) Installation of eight paintingsWest wall: never sleep again / at the steering wheel a man is a man / starter – turn me on, 2019Charcoal and acrylic on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 145 ⅞ × 245 ⅞ inches (370.4 × 624.3 cm)© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail)

Installation of eight paintings
West wall: never sleep again / at the steering wheel a man is a man / starter – turn me on, 2019
Charcoal and acrylic on canvas, in 3 parts, overall: 145 ⅞ × 245 ⅞ inches (370.4 × 624.3 cm)
© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Jeff McLane

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail) Installation of eight paintingsSouthest wall: tiger=east=face2, 2020Acrylic on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 177 ⅝ × 135 inches (451 × 342.9 cm)© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Simon Vogel

Albert Oehlen, Tramonto Spaventoso, 2019–20 (detail)

Installation of eight paintings
Southest wall: tiger=east=face2, 2020
Acrylic on canvas, in 2 parts, overall: 177 ⅝ × 135 inches (451 × 342.9 cm)
© Albert Oehlen. Photo: Simon Vogel

About

Gagosian is pleased to present Albert Oehlen’s Tramonto Spaventoso (2019–20). This is the first time that Oehlen’s provocative and personal response to the Rothko Chapel in Houston is being exhibited in its entirety; the first part was shown at the Serpentine Galleries, London, in 2019–20, the second at Gagosian Beverly Hills earlier this year. The paintings are installed in a custom-built octagonal structure in the Grand Theater Gallery of the Marciano Art Foundation, reflecting the layout of the original chapel.

Oehlen uses abstract, figurative, and collaged elements—often applying self-imposed strategic constraints—to disrupt the histories and conventions of modern painting. While championing self-consciously “bad” painting characterized by crude drawing and jarring coloration, he infuses expressive gesture with Surrealist attitude, openly disparaging the quest for reliable form and stable meaning.

In the eight large-scale paintings that constitute the Tramonto Spaventoso project, Oehlen variously interprets and dramatically transforms John Graham’s Tramonto Spaventoso (Terrifying Sunset, 1940–49), a painting by the Russian-born American modernist that Oehlen discovered in the 1990s and has been fascinated with ever since.

Read more

News

Frank Gehry, Wishful Thinking, 2021, installation view, Frank Gehry: Spinning Tales, Gagosian, Beverly Hills, 2021 © Frank O. Gehry. Photo: Joshua White

Visit

Gallery Weekend LA
Frank Gehry, Albert Oehlen, Nancy Rubins

July 28–August 1, 2021
Los Angeles
weekend.galleryplatform.la

Gagosian is participating in the inaugural Gallery Weekend LA with three exhibitions. Frank Gehry: Spinning Tales and Nancy Rubins: Fluid Space, both on view at Gagosian’s Beverly Hills location, will be open for extended hours during Gallery Weekend LA (July 28: 10am–7pm; July 29–30: 10am–5:30pm; July 31–August 1: 12–6pm). Visitors can also see Albert Oehlen: Tramonto Spaventoso with an appointment, on view at Marciano Art Foundation (July 28–31: 11am–5pm). The event is organized through Gallery Association Los Angeles and galleryplatform.la and includes nearly eighty-five of the city’s leading contemporary art galleries and museums.

Frank Gehry, Wishful Thinking, 2021, installation view, Frank Gehry: Spinning Tales, Gagosian, Beverly Hills, 2021 © Frank O. Gehry. Photo: Joshua White