Jay Defeo: Into Other Worlds

Marc Selwyn Fine Art is pleased to present Jay DeFeo: Into Other Worlds, the gallery’s fourth exhibition of the legendary artist’s work. Known as a key figure in the Bay Area Beat Culture of the 1950’s and a pioneer in the Abstract Expressionist movement, DeFeo (1929-1989) continues to inspire generations of artists with her astonishingly diverse and innovative range of works. This exhibition explores a recurring and central theme in the artist’s oeuvre—the power of a work of art to function as a window or portal, transporting the viewer into the mystery of other worlds.

As DeFeo has written: “Entrances into my artworks have always been a way of getting away from everything we are confined to in an earthly form.” The genesis for these “entrances” has often been a common object or fragment from the artist’s quotidian environment. In Untitled (Reflections of Africa series), 1989, the circular opening in a tissue box becomes an enigmatic portal allowing the viewer to peer into the vessel. In Where the Swan Flies (Loop System No. 1), 1974, the artist finds beauty and inspiration in the form of a broken cup handle, inviting the viewer to enter its black central void. David Pagel, whose essay is contained in a catalogue published concurrently with the exhibition, states: “Those seemingly empty spaces draw viewers to them with something like magnetic forcefulness or the tug of gravity… Like gaps in time and space, the voids in DeFeo’s works interrupt business as usual and complicate our relationship to our surroundings by sharpening our perceptions and stimulating a kind of attentiveness that is laced with anxiety and all the more exciting for it.” This exhibition contains a rich and diverse array of media, reflecting an experimentation with surface and materials that runs throughout the artist’s career. A silver gelatin photograph Untitled (Cabbage Rose), c. 1974-5, for example, draws the viewer into a black vortex formed by a leaf. Two rare large-scale canvases complement a series of graphite drawings, collages, small oil paintings, and paintings on paper that highlight a wide array of material exploration.

A conversation about the exhibition between curator Helen Molesworth and art critic David Pagel will take place in the gallery on February 5th at 4PM. RSVP is required to attend the event in person. If you are unable to attend, the conversation will be livestreamed on our Instagram account, @marcselwynfineart.