The Painting Factory: Abstraction after Warhol

Written by Jeffrey Deitch. Contributions by Scott Rothkopf, Johanna Burton and James Meyer. Publlished on the occasion of the exhibition The Painting Factory: Abstraction after Warhol, MOCA, Los Angeles, April 29 – August 2012. The first large-scale exhibition exploring contemporary abstract painting. In a major exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, director Jeffrey Deitch considers the reemergence of abstract painting among a broad range of artists whose work is as diverse conceptually as it is aesthetically. Looking back to Andy Warhol’s seminal Shadow, Oxidation, and Rorschach paintings as among the many touchstones that underwrite the contemporary impulse to abstraction, the show features artists such as Julie Mehretu, whose large-scale works densely layer maplike markings; Josh Smith, whose lush canvases often explore a single theme repeatedly, such as his signature; and Tauba Auerbach, whose highly formal explorations of materials challenge conventional modes