This new exhibition examines the work and career of the American artist – but has it gone down well with critics?
The Guardian: **** Adrian Searle commented: “Heilmann’s paintings aren’t the best in the world, but they don’t need to be. To me, they seem to contain a lot of happiness and pleasure in the act of looking.”
Evening Standard: ****Ben Luke wrote: “you might also sit back in Heilmann’s bespoke candy-coloured chairs and simply bask in the colour of this glorious summer show.”
The Upcoming: **** “The show offers a fresh perspective on a formerly overlooked artist that will have you rethinking abstract art.”
Time Out: **** Matt Breen thought: “best of all, there’s the recent pictures of highways and ocean waves – so hopelessly cool you half-expect to hear the ‘Drive’ soundtrack playing in the background.”
The Quietus: “It’s an impressive body of work, at once deeply embedded in the movements of her times and somehow sui generis, highly individual and at times deeply personal.”
Spindle Magazine: “It is very charming hearing Heilmann as she talks through her works; there is a distinct contrast between the curator’s analytical approach and Heilmann’s, where she describes the magical coincidences in her work, often citing her spiritual nature.”
The works on display showcase the wide range of subjects covered in Mary Heilmann’s career such as the beach life of Los Angeles, 1960s counter culture, pop songs and friendships with New York artists, poets and musicians.
This retrospective features works such as The First Vent (1972), Bush of Ghosts (1980) and Good Vibrations Diptych, Remembering David (2012).
Mary Heilmann: Looking at Pictures is on display at the Whitechapel Gallery until the 21st August 2016. For more information visit: http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/mary-heilmann-looking-at-pictures/.