Lawrence Markey Inc.

PAUL FEELEY Painting and Sculpture

at Lawrence Markey
New York, NY

October 5–November 23, 2002

Lawrence Markey Gallery is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition: Paul Feeley: Painting and Sculpture, one of two exhibitions organized in collaboration with Matthew Marks Gallery at 522 West 22nd Street.

This is the first major exhibition of Feeley’s work since his memorial exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in 1968. The exhibitions will consist of paintings, sculpture and works on paper executed between 1958 and 1965.

Paul Feeley’s paintings are characterized by bright colors; simple, abstract forms; and symmetrically arranged compositions. Clement Greenberg included Feeley’s work in his exhibition Emerging Talent at the Kootz Gallery in 1954, alongside artists such as Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, and Feeley is often associated with the Color Field painters. Paul Feeley's work is distinct from their’s, however, in its classical rigor and in its use of forms derived from ancient Greek architecture, Moorish tiles, and Middle Eastern decoration, among other sources. Feeley's first important one-man exhibition was held at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery in 1955 and from 1960 onwards, Betty Parsons, who held nine exhibitions of Feeley’s work at her gallery, championed his work.

Paul Feeley taught at Bennington College for 27 years and founded its celebrated art department. Committed to the art of his contemporaries, he exposed his students--Helen Frankenthaler among them--to many of the most significant artists of his time. At Bennington, he organized the first retrospective exhibitions of Jackson Pollock, David Smith, and Hans Hoffmann, among others.

Although rarely exhibited since the 1960s, Feeley’s work has had a subtle, far-reaching influence and remains today as vital and fresh as when it was first shown. This exhibition, which includes many works not seen publicly in over 30 years, will be accompanied by the first publication on the artist to appear since 1968.

Paul Feeley: Painting and Sculpture will be on view October 5–November 23, 2002.

A fully illustrated publication available with essays by Lane Relyea, Lawrence Alloway, Gene Baro and over forty color plates is available.