FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ALBERT OEHLEN
May 1st – June 19th, 2004
Opening reception April 30, 6-8 pm.

Luhring Augustine is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by Albert Oehlen from May 1st – June 19th, 2004. This show will consist of eight new large abstract paintings.

Albert Oehlen, one of the founders of the German "bad" painting movement, has redefined the boundaries of both figurative and abstract painting. While Oehlen is aware of the traditional rules of painting, such as color theory and composition, he specifically works against them to expose their limitations. Oehlen purposely paints mundane subjects and combines clashing colors, yet ultimately creates formally perfect paintings derived from this subversive process. For example, in this exhibition Oehlen will exhibit three large abstractions in which he only uses shades of grey. By eliminating color all together, Oehlen sets up a strict limitation on the range of the paint and further pushes the boundaries of what makes a painting formally successful. This subversive process has been extremely influential on a younger generation of painters and has expanded the vocabulary and process of conventional painting.

Albert Oehlen has exhibited widely and has had significant solo shows at the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hannover, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, IVAM Centre de Carme, Valencia, and Kunsthalle Basel. He will have a major exhibition this June in Lausanne, Switzerland and is planning his first major American museum show at MOCA Miami.

For further information, please contact Claudia Altman-Siegel at (212) 206-9100, or look on our website at www.luhringaugustine.com