Legendary illustrator Pat Steer gets global representation with Hauser & Wirth – ARTnews.com

Pat Steer, the artist who created giant abstractions made up of gorgeous pigments of paint, has officially joined Hauser & Wirth, one of the world’s largest galleries. Her first show with Hauser & Wirth will take place in New York in November.

Acting, rumors first reported in Artnet NewsWet Paint Column Last month, it will be global, meaning Hauser & Wirth will be able to display Steir’s art in all 16 galleries, in cities like New York, London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Zurich. Her New York show this fall will be titled “Blue River and Rainbow Waterfalls,” a sign that it will further her longstanding interest in nature.

Now 82 years old, Steir has gone through various phases in her career that have coincided with varying degrees of fame. At the moment, she is arguably the subject of more attention than she has received before, with significant sales of her work and larger museum displays.

Throughout her career, Steir has had an influence on multiple generations of painters. Her work provided key examples of how abstraction and conceptualization coexist.

Mark Piot, President and CEO of Hauser & Wirth, said in an interview that she is “a major painter of her generation who has not received the attention she deserves, not in terms of the market – her market has developed in a fundamental way in recent years – but from a retrograde perspective”.

He added, “Based on minimalism and concepts, Bate has created a visual language entirely of her own – a new abstraction that includes anima and Serendipity, which integrates poetry and philosophy into a practice that also includes writing, performing, and directing. It is at the same time a living legend and a contemporary creator.”

Steir was previously represented by Lévy Gorvy, a gallery that recently merged with Salon 94. Together with Amalia Dayan, they formed LGDR. LGDR initially stated that it does not focus primarily on representing artists, so Steir chose not to join this show, according to Payot. However, Steir will continue to maintain relationships with galleries that have showcased her work for a long time, including Locks in Philadelphia, Baldwin in Aspen and Thomas Schulte in Berlin.

While her paintings may often seem like direct gestural abstractions, she is guided by pre-defined sets of rules and a willingness to cede power to chance.

Her popular film series “The Waterfall”, which began in 1988, involves installing a tall ladder and casting paint from above, allowing it to move downward on its own. She said, “Gravity becomes my assistant.” ARTnews In 2012.

Less well-known, though no less important, are her early works from the 1970s, which used text most prominently and drew on Buddhist philosophy. During that era, she also became involved in the feminist magazine heresies And the semi text (e)which is famous for publishing articles on critical theory.

In recent years, Steir’s market has grown exponentially. Between 2017 and 2018, only her auction record was made several times. It is now over $2 million – a relatively high number for a female artist alive.

Steir hasn’t done a major survey of museums in the United States in the past decade, though she did a major show of new paintings at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Park in Washington, D.C. in 2019. Last year, the Long Museum, a privately run museum in Shanghai ARTnews Top 200 collectors, Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei, gave Steer her first show in China.

Piot hinted at ambitions to change this shortfall in a major retrospective, saying, “We’d love to see her make an institutional show in the coming years, and that’s where Hauser & Wirth can make a difference.”