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Robert Therrien

August 5–18, 2021

I see my work as fairly self-contained, almost circular. If you tried to graph it in a linear way, it wouldn’t work. There are too many references going backwards. The work is a little like a spiral because a spiral goes forward and then circles back on itself, then passes itself again.
—Robert Therrien

Gagosian is pleased to present seven works on paper by Robert Therrien (19472019) for galleryplatform.la.

Over the course of the four decades of his career, Therrien drew repeatedly on the operation of memory and the texture of everyday life to produce a singular body of objects and images infused with a quality of the surreal. Best known for creating oversize sculptures of tables, chairs, dishes, and other household items, he was fascinated by the visual and conceptual effects of dramatic shifts in scale and context. From the 2000s onward, Therrien’s work also reveals influences and preoccupations including childhood mythology and period-specific design. It represents, too, an extended investigation of “figure-ground play,” wherein an image may signify several divergent things at once, to differing degrees of visibility.

In addition to sculptures and photographs, Therrien produced an extensive body of work on paper, which conveys a similar fantastical wit. Made using bleach, dye, customized stencils, and other mediums, these delicate drawings, prints, and mixed-media works often incorporate macabre motifs such as gallows and black clouds, suggesting a fascination with folklore beyond the elusive magical potential of ordinary things. Usually shown in silhouette or outline and isolated at the center of the page, these totemic images further elaborate Therrien’s interest in the relationship between objects and space.

Among the featured works are depictions of a devil, an oilcan, a head encircled by a halo, and the legs of a girl emerging from a body of water. These were created using various materials including colored pencil, graphite, laundry marker, and tempera. Two compositions incorporate abstract elements—one depicting Therrien’s enigmatic character Joyce in outline surrounded by a cluster of ink marks, the other a constellation of colored dots. In each case, Therrien invests an outwardly simple theme with magnetic ambiguity, conveying his admiration for the stylized look of early Hollywood cartoons to transform familiar icons into evocative symbols.

Robert Therrien’s No title (wallpaper with devil) (2001) and No title (head with halo) (2017) installed in the artist’s studio, Los Angeles. Artwork © Robert Therrien/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Joshua White

Robert Therrien’s No title (wallpaper with devil) (2001) and No title (head with halo) (2017) installed in the artist’s studio, Los Angeles. Artwork © Robert Therrien/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Joshua White

Related News

Robert Therrien, No title (witch hat), 2018 © Robert Therrien/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Josh White

Tour

Robert Therrien

Saturday, March 30, 2019, 3pm
Gagosian, San Francisco

Join Gagosian for a private tour and in-depth look at Robert Therrien’s first solo exhibition in San Francisco in twenty years. In this exhibition of new paintings and sculptures, the artist pares down familiar forms such as smoke signals, stacked plates, and a witch hat to the point that they become symbols and silhouettes, underscoring the simple beauty and infinite meaning inherent in common objects. The tour, led by Graham Dalik, will consider Therrien’s continual reinvention of these motifs through shifts in medium, perspective, and scale. To attend the free event, RSVP to sftours@gagosian.com.  

Robert Therrien, No title (witch hat), 2018 © Robert Therrien/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Josh White

Gagosian’s booth at Art Basel Miami Beach 2022. Artwork, left to right: © Gerhard Richter; © Amoako Boafo; © Richard Prince; © 2022 Judd Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Richard Diebenkorn Foundation; © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Stanley Whitney. Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano

Art Fair

Art Basel Miami Beach 2022

December 1–3, 2022, booth D5
Miami Beach Convention Center
artbasel.com

Gagosian is pleased to present a selection of modern and contemporary works at Art Basel Miami Beach 2022. Returning to Miami for the fair’s twentieth anniversary, the gallery is honored to have participated each year the fair has been held.

Gagosian’s booth at Art Basel Miami Beach 2022. Artwork, left to right: © Gerhard Richter; © Amoako Boafo; © Richard Prince; © 2022 Judd Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Richard Diebenkorn Foundation; © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Stanley Whitney. Photo: Sebastiano Pellion di Persano

Mary Weatherford, Sunset, Western Cape, 2020 © Mary Weatherford. Photo: Fredrik Nilsen Studio

Auction

Venice Family Clinic Art Walk
Benefit Auction 2021

April 28–May 12, 2021

Venice Family Clinic presents its annual benefit auction, a fundraising event whose proceeds will provide essential health care services to people in the community regardless of their income, immigration, or insurance status. Since its inception forty years ago, this charity event has raised more than $23 million. This year’s auction, hosted on Artsy, is honoring Mary Weatherford as the “signature artist” and features more than two hundred works by nationally recognized contemporary artists, including Piero Golia, Ed Ruscha, Robert Therrien, as well as Weatherford. To register to bid, visit artsy.net.

Mary Weatherford, Sunset, Western Cape, 2020 © Mary Weatherford. Photo: Fredrik Nilsen Studio

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