Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory - Lévy Gorvy
  • Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

    Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

  • Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

    Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

  • Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

    Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

  • Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

    Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

  • Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

    Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

  • Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

    Installation view of 'Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory'. Photography by Tim Nighswander. All artwork © Dan Colen 2018

Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother PurgatoryExhibitions

New York
May 2 - June 12, 2018

Opening Reception with

Dan Colen

May 2, 6-8PM

Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory

Lévy Gorvy will debut new paintings and sculpture by Dan Colen in the artist’s inaugural exhibition at the gallery, opening May 2nd. Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory will present three recent bodies of works that focus on technical innovation in pursuit of ambience and emotional depth. The exhibition, which will run through June 12th at the gallery’s New York location, is both a celebration of Colen’s recently announced representation by the gallery and an evolution of his painterly practice. A leading figure of his generation, Colen pursues an art deeply rooted in the history of painting. Having engaged in long periods of material experimentation, employing substances from chewing gum, flowers, dirt, and grass, to confetti, and tar and feathers, he has gradually deconstructed the essence of painting’s brushstroke and the gestural mark of the artist’s hand. His bold, spirited, and fertile style of tromp l’oeil techniques and tongue-in-cheek humor deliver a decidedly contemporary interpretation to the recognized canon. However, it is also through this lens that Colen so fervently mines and questions established historical styles: Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Conceptualism. Challenging the heritage of his medium through an innovative approach to materiality, technique, and content, Colen pushes the boundaries of painting while imbuing his work with formal rigor and art historical richness.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue that features a conversation between the artist and Jeff Koons moderated by curator Douglas Fogle as well as an essay by art historian and critic Andrianna Campbell, a noted specialist in American art of the modern and contemporary period.

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Selected Works

  • Dan Colen's painting Asterope, 2018

    DAN COLEN
    Asterope
    2018
    Oil-based enamel on linen
    120 x 96 inches (304.8 x 243.84 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire
  • Dan Colen's painting Celaeno, 2018

    DAN COLEN
    Celaeno
    2018
    Oil-based enamel on linen
    120 x 96 inches (304.8 x 243.84 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire
  • Dan Colen's painting Merope, 2018

    DAN COLEN
    Merope
    2018
    Oil-based enamel on linen
    120 x 96 inches (304.8 x 243.84 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire
  • Dan Colen's painting Mother, 2017–18

    DAN COLEN
    Mother
    2017–18
    Oil on canvas
    75 x 100 inches (190.5 x 254 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire
  • Dan Colen's painting Mother, 2017–18

    DAN COLEN
    Mother
    2017–18
    Oil on canvas
    75 x 100 inches (190.5 x 254 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire
  • Dan Colen's sculpture Annabelle, 2017–18

    DAN COLEN
    Annabelle
    2017–18
    Stainless steel, epoxy primer, acrylic paint, auto
    paint, rabbit fur, urethane foam, polyester resin, glass
    70 x 30 x 22 inches (177.8 x 76.2 x 55.9 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire
  • Dan Colen's painting Purgatory, 2017-18

    DAN COLEN
    Purgatory
    2017–18
    Oil on canvas
    89.5 x 119 inches (227.3 x 302.3 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire
  • Dan Colen's painting Purgatory, 2017-18

    DAN COLEN
    Purgatory
    2017–18
    Oil on canvas
    89.5 x 119 inches (227.3 x 302.3 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire
  • Dan Colen's painting Purgatory, 2017-18

    DAN COLEN
    Purgatory
    2017–18
    Oil on canvas
    89.5 x 119 inches (227.3 x 302.3 cm)
    © Dan Colen 2018

    Inquire

Video

Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory

May 11, 2018

Selected Press

Artnet | ‘The Art World Mechanism Really Wants to Define You’: Onetime Bad-Boy Artist Dan Colen on Achieving Maturity in His Work

July 6, 2018

On the heels of a show at New York's Lévy Gorvy Gallery, Colen talks about his latest work—and a …

Blouin Artinfo | Top Art Shows in New York This Week, June 8 through 14: Giacometti to Joaquín Torres-García

June 7, 2018

Last Chance to See: “Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother Purgatory” at Lévy Gorvy

Artnet | Wizened Dan Colen Tackles the Anxieties of Adulthood and Mailorder Catalogues at Lévy Gorvy

May 11, 2018

Mailorder Mother Purgatory explores a post-bad boy Colen grappling with domesticity.

Widewalls | 8 Gallery Shows to See in New York During Frieze Week

May 2, 2018

The artist’s inaugural exhibition at the Lévy Gorvy gallery, the show Dan Colen: Mailorder Mother …

Surface Magazine | Weekend Cheat Sheet: April 30 - May 6, 2018

May 2, 2018

Lévy Gorvy will debut new paintings and sculpture by Dan Colen in the artist’s inaugural exhibition …

Blouin Artinfo | “Mailorder Mother Purgatory” at Lévy Gorvy, New York

May 1, 2018

The show celebrates both the news of Colen’s representation by the gallery but also a marked evolution …

Art Daily | Lévy Gorvy opens first exhibition with Dan Colen

May 1, 2018

Lévy Gorvy will debut new paintings and sculpture by Dan Colen in the artist’s inaugural exhibition …

More Information