Philip Guston: ‘Transformation’ at Hauser & Wirth

Philip Guston: ‘Transformation’ at Hauser & Wirth The visionary art of the American painter Philip Guston (1913-1980) is presented in ‘Transformation’, an exhibition at Hauser & Wirth. 23 December 2020 – 28 March 2021.

Source: Hauser & Wirth

Recognized as a pioneer of abstract expressionism before his return to figuration in the late 1960s, for Guston painting was an encounter between thought and feeling, image and idea. Within this exhibition, Hauser & Wirth presents two bodies of work from different periods, abstract (1952-64) and figurative (1968-1977), that together show the depth and complexity of his personal iconography. Available to view in person and online, the significant collection of 14 drawings and paintings reveals Guston’s complete commitment to direct experience, moving between a pictorial language relating to his studio and painting tools, to contemplative motifs of his wife, the poet Musa McKim, and their shared lives together. These deeply personal works transcend everyday experience to present an intimate vision of Guston’s creative process and unique artistic freedom.

The ground floor gallery showcases a collection of abstract works created prior to Guston’s departure from pure abstraction and subsequent return to figurative painting. At this moment, with the artist seemingly at the height of his career as a leading figure of the New York School of abstract expressionism, an unexpected shift occurred. The exhibition continues on the first floor, demonstrating Guston’s complete transformation into a new figurative language from 1968 onwards. The tangibility of the late work is signposted through drawing, including basic forms that slowly manifest into an intriguing vocabulary of unassuming objects of everyday life. By the mid-1970s, the iconic forms emerging from the paintings were unlike anything previously seen, harnessing the narrative power Guston had known in his murals and early figurative works as a young painter.

‘Philip Guston. Transformation’ presents an artist moving forward, continuously responding to the world around him with vigour and unwavering passion. It was Guston’s confident ability to shift fearlessly between abstraction and figuration that continues to make his work relevant today, from the highly charged forms of the late abstract works to his lifelong fascination with poetry and his reverence for his wife Musa McKim.

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Philip Guston drawing retrospective at the Morgan Library & Museum (exhibition, 2008)