See Inside Gagosian’s Sweeping Show on Abstraction, Featuring More Than 40 Artists From Vija Celmins to Oscar Murillo

Installation view of "o Bend the Ear of the Outer World: Conversations on contemporary abstract painting" at Gagoian in London, open until August 25, 2023. Photo: © 2023 Katharina Grosse and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany.

For the first time, Gagosian has planned such a large London show that the works have taken over both of the gallery’s Mayfair locations in Grosvenor Hill and Davies Street. The additional space is needed to house paintings by more than 40 renowned artists, ranging from members of the old guard like Vija Celmins, Frank Bowling, Pat Steir, and Gerhard Richter to ultra-contemporary stars like Jadé Fadojutimi, Tauba Auerbach, and Oscar Murillo.

This wide-ranging selection of predominantly American, British, and German artists comes courtesy of an intensive 18-month-long search by guest curator Gary Garrels. The art historian’s impressive museum credentials include major exhibitions at the Hammer, MoMA, and SFMoMA, from which he resigned in 2020 after staff members started a petition calling for his removal.

The idea behind such a sweeping survey of new and recent work is to offer a snapshot of the many different kinds of abstract painting that exist today, inviting us to view the works in conversation with each other, and assess which qualities they share and which mark them out as distinct. Together, the paintings demonstrate abstract art’s enduring power to surprise and delight.

The shows title, “To Bend the Ear of the Outer World,” has been borrowed from a poem by Frank O’Hara, establishing the exhibition as a follow-up on Garrel’s similarly O’Hara-inspired 2008 show, “Oranges and Sardines,” at the Hammer in Los Angeles. Fittingly, he has decided to include many of the same artists who has admired for many decades.

“As a curator, I have found that artists look at art with a focus and scrutiny, a criticality and engagement, that few of us can summon with the same intensity,” Garrels said in a press statement.

Preview works from the show below.

Installation view of “To Bend the Ear of the Outer World: Conversations on contemporary abstract painting” at Gagosian in London. Photo courtesy of Gagosian.