JOHN BEECH Object in Place

DOSSIER DE PRESSE

Exhibition from September 03rd to 24th 2016 and from October 08th to 22th 2016

17 rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003 Paris / +33 1 42 74 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com 17 rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003 Paris / +33 1 42 74 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com JOHN BEECH Exhibition from September 03rd to 24th 2016 And from October 08th to 22th 2016 Opening on Saturday, September 03rd 2016 - 6pm to 9pm

OBJECT IN PLACE

Four years after his first French solo show and many group shows, Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire is pleased to exhibit the experimental and formal work of British-American artist John Beech again. Here, the gallery revisits abstraction, the art field it has specialized in over the last 20 years, through the elegant and impactful mix of its various defining elements. For this show, John Beech has spent three weeks in Paris in order to create pieces made on site

Each Photo-Paintings hanging on the walls combines two temporalities. First, there is the temporality of the photograph taken by the artist, and then the one of the pictorial gesture, which consists in adding another layer on the surface of the image. The photograph is therefore no longer Photo-Print # 8, 2015 meant to inform. On the contrary, it throws spectators off, and the content of Paper size : 90.2 x 76.8 cm Print size: 63.5 x 50.8 cm the image (industrial volumes in urban spaces, dumpsters, containers etc.) is overshadowed by the space and volume of the paint itself. The mix of these two media creates a hybrid visual language which toys with our perception of images and the unpredictable nature of pictorial and screen printing intervention. The artist adds to the industrial process of screen printing by using tires, wire fences, and other manufactured items such as carpets or thermoplastic to blur the surface1.

Whether in his photo-paintings, tape-drawings, coated-drawings, print-drawings or paintings, John Beech practices an intrusive form of abstraction through more or less wide colored flat tint areas, whichsometime totally cover up the original image. This gesture is both ambiguous and disconcerting: the artist alters and disrupts the image’s readability, while at the same time recomposing its aura as a unique piece. Sometime, he goes as far as to entirely cloak the photograph to get a monochromatic surface: the image then only exists through the depth of its layered material. In his sculptures, abstraction is not simply represented; it is embodied through the volume of the industrial objects that the artist’s sculptures reference (Contai- ners, Rolling Platforms, Blocks etc.).

1 These elements can later become sculpture-paintings of their own.

17 rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003 Paris / +33 1 42 74 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com By associating abstraction and figuration, and alluding to familiar shapes and multiple references, John Beech shows his capacity to renew abstraction. With the negation of frontiers between painting and sculpture, shape and color, volume and flatness,medium specificity2 is revealed as a relative truth.

This sentence by John Beech: “The connecting link between my approaches is an emphasis on the physical presence of the materials used, in works that shed new light on the over- looked objects and architectural elements of the urban setting” echoes Rauschenberg’s: “I don’t want a picture to look like something it isn’t. I want it to look like something it is. And Rolling Platform (Light Blue), 2015 I think a picture is more like the real world when it’s made out of the real 110 x 122 x 121.5 cm Oil Enamel, Aluminum, world”. While John Beech’s creations show a strong influence of art history Enamel, Pencil, Wood Glue, Plywood, Casters and American abstraction, they also go beyond artistic categorizations. The utilitarian function of his assembled pieces or of the industrial objects he takes in picture highlight the relation of his work to our daily life. Walk- ing in Rauschenberg footsteps, John Beech plays with the trivial nature of the material he uses. While he does reveal their creative potential, he also preserves their raw nature by consciously limiting his artistic intervention.

By reintroducing material and space inside the gallery, John Beech’s artworks and installations seek to interact with us by disrupting our common percep- tions. They do not put distance or create a sacred aura around them. Instead, they stand out by their simplicity and modesty. This minimal presence gives rise to an eloquent and original artistic language. Beech’s approach could very well recall some of the views defended by Harald Szeemann during his historic exhibition entitled “When attitudes become form: live in your head ». The artist’s true conceptual freedom and minimalist approach delicately arise from his basic shapes and “trash” gesture.

Sébastien Borderie

2 Clément Greenberg, Toward a new Laocoon, Partisan Review, 1940

17 rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003 Paris / +33 1 42 74 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com Photo-Print # 1, 2015 Paper size: 90.2 x 76.8 cm Print size: 63.5 x 50.8 cm

Photo-Print # 19, 2015 Paper size: 76.8 x 90.2cm Print size: 50.8 x 63.5cm

17 rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003 Paris / +33 1 42 74 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com Photo-Painting # 66, 2014 198 x 305 x 5 cm Oil Enamel, B/W RC Photograph, Adhesive, Canvas on Wooden Panel

Photo-Painting # 67, 2014 198 x 305 x 5 cm Oil Enamel, B/W RC Photograph, Adhesive, Canvas on Wooden Panel

17 rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003 Paris / +33 1 42 74 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com John BEECH Born in 1964 in Winchester, England

EDUCATION

1986 B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Californie, USA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016 Object in Place, Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris, France 2015 Frieze New York, Peter Blum, New York 2014 M&R Fricke Gallery, Berlin, Germany Haus Der Kunst St.Josef, Solothurn, Switzerland John Beech: Small Wall Objects,Concept Space, Shibukawa, Gunma, Japon 2012 Time Expanded, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New-Mexico, USA The Space Surrounding, Peter Blum Soho, New York, New York, USA Likelihood / Unlikelihood, Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire, Paris, France 2011 85-87 FBG. St. Martin (with Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire), Paris, France, 10. 2011 Door to the Window, Haus Der Kunst, Solothurn, Switzerland, 10-12. 2011 John Beech, A Selection of Recent Work, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon John Beech, Portland Art Museum, (Curator: Bruce Guenther) Portland,USA The State of Things, Peter Blum Chelsea, New York, New York 2010 John Beech: Works for a Wall, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland 2009 Incidents: Drawings and Sculpture, Galeria La Caja Negra, Madrid John Beech & John Zurier, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California 2008 Obscure / Reveal, John Beech & Edward Albee, Peter Blum Soho, New York, Nohow, CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium 2007 That and This: New Work, Peter Blum Chelsea, New York, New York Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland 2006 John Beech New Work, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California John Beech: Project Space, G Fine Art, Washington D.C. John Beech New Work: Sculpture and Drawings, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts 2005 Recent Sculpture and Large Scale Drawings, Peter Blum, New York, New York New Sculpture made on Site and Drawings, Galerie M+R Fricke, Berlin, Germany 2004 John Beech Works 1989 – 2004, Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germany John Beech from the Collection, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York John Beech New Work, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico John Beech – New Sculptures and Paintings (with John Meyer – Drawings), Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland 2003 Peter Blum, New York, New York Archive Inc. Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Brooklyn Container, Brooklyn Central Public Library, New York (+ Collaborative Drawings 1998 –2003 with Simon Lee and Christopher Lesnewski) 2002 Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico 2001 Rotating Paintings, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California 2000 John Beech: New Work, Stark Gallery, New York , New York Alexander Nagel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Built on Site, TD156, San Francisco, California 1999 Petra Bungert Projects / CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California 1998 The Locker Plant, The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, California 1996 Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, California 1995 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California 1994 Miles17 rue Bellamy des Filles-113 du Crosby Calvaire, Street, 75003 New Paris York, / +33 New 1 42 74York 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com 1993 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California 1992 Sculpture Built On The Premises, Upaya Gallery, San Francisco, California 1991 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California 1990 Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California 1989 Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, California

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016 Dumbball: David Ireland and his Circle, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, California 2015 Kabinettstücke / Sammlung Gabriele Kuebler, Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germany Peter Blum Edition: Books and Prints, Peter Blum, New York, New York, USA Retrospective Paule Anglim 1923- 2015, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, California Quand fondra la niege, où ira le blanc, (Curator: Bernard Marcelis), Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris, France Concrete Post 3, raum2810, Bonn, Germany Concrete Post 2, (Curator: David Thomas), PSSR Gallery, RMIT University, Melbourne,Victoria, Australia 2014 CCNOA 30/30 Image Archive Project: A Collective Collection A/B/Contemporary, Zürich, Switzerland 2013 Brasserie, Haus der Kunst St. Josef, Solothurn, Suisse Histoires et Géographies: Acquisitions récentes du Frac Bretagne, Frac Bretagne, Rennes, France Coluna 2, Vienne, France Unruly, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, Californie, USA Six Memos for the Next…, Magazin 4 Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz, Autriche 2012 Art on Paper 2012, Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina Pink, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico Virtual Insanity, Fiedler Taubert Contemporary, Berlin, Germany Drawing a Line in the Sand, Peter Blum, New York, New York Eretai Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California 2011 Fifty Years of Bay Area Art: The SECA Awards, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California, USA The Long Curve. 150 years of Visionary Collecting at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York Carte Blanche à Clare Kenny: Odds and Ends, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland Paper Variables, Dieu Donné, New York, New York John Beech & Kathrin Kunz, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland 2010 Thirty Years of Collecting: A Recent Gift to the Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona Human Rites, (Curator Silvia Karman Cubïná & Steve Holmes) The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida Living in Two Worlds, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM The Artist & The Photograph, (Curator: Clare Kenny), Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel, Switzerland Metropolis, Galerie M & R Fricke, Berlin, Germany Reflection, Peter Blum Soho, New York, New York My Eyes Keep Me in Trouble, (Organized by CCNOA, Brussels), La Station, Nice, France Quantos Queres, Marz-Galeria, Lisbon, Portugal 2009 Des Mondes Voisins, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland Common Ground: Color, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico Glissements de Terrain, Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris 30 x 30 cm Project, Mcnay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas Yellow, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland Projet 25 une exposition pour Gisèle, (Curator: Friederike Stangier), Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland Art Unlimited 10, Art Basel 40, Basel, Switzerland PS 1999-2009, PS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Prints,’ Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland 2008 Miniaturization, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland Paper, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland Begin Again Right Back Here, (Curator: B.Wurtz), White Columns, New York, New York Summer17 rue des 2008, Filles Galerie du Calvaire, Gisèle 75003 Linder, Paris Basel, / +33 Switzerland1 42 74 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com Works on Paper: The Natalie and Irving Forman Collection,’ Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble, (Organized by CCNOA Brussels), Sydney College of the Arts Gallery (SCA), Sydney, Australia-traveled to: The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts + de réalité, École Régionale des beaux-arts de Nantes, Nantes, France Annual Invitational Exhibition of Visual Art, The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, New York 2007 Ahnlichkeiten – Hommage å Fortuny, Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germany Rückblick Review: 10 years Berlin, M & R Fricke, Berlin, Germany Summertime, Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland Pas de Soucis, (Curator: Petra Bungert, CCNOA Brussels), Non-Objectif Sud, Tulette, France Remix: Small Sculpture, (Curator: Claire Schneider), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo NewYork Der Zweite Blick, Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst, Reutlingen, Germany Pierogi Flatfiling,Artnews Projects, Berlin, Germany Off the Wall, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico Remix: Robert Therrien, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York March Madness, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico Scherr, Apollinaire, “Stranded in Marfa,” Oakland East Bay Express, 2.19.1999 Baker, Kenneth, “Sculptures With Delayed Punch Lines,” San Francisco Chronicle, 2.5.1999 Chinati Foundation newsletter Volume 4, image reproduced, 1999 1998 Estep, Jan, “Blunt Object”, New Art Examiner, 12.1998 1989 Re:Big BendImperfect Sentinel, Affinities, Marfa, (Gregory Texas, 10.1998 Adair, John Beech, Rene de Guzman) XS Gallery, Carson City,Smith, Nevada Courtenay, “Blunt Object” Exhibition Catalogue essay, 9.1998 IntroductionsSillen, Kim, “Here ’89, & Gallery Now,” Paule New YorkAnglim, Arts SanMagazine, Francisco, 6.1998 California 1988 ChainFreedman, Reaction Matt, IV, “Here San Francisco& Now,” Exhibition Arts Commission Catalogue Gallery, essay, San 4.1998 Francis co California 19971986 Damianovic,Graduation Exhibition, Maia, “Painting (John Beech,Beyond RenéLimits,” de Tema Guzman, Celeste, Oriane 4.1997 Stender) The White Room, 1996 Bensley,University Lis, of “JohnCalifornia, Beech & James Hyde,” Santa Fe New Mexican Pasatiempo, 6.7.1996 1995 Smith,Berkeley, Roberta, California “Corcoran Biennial,” New York Times, 12.1995 Baker, Kenneth, “Details Know Their Importance,” San Francisco Chronicle, 12.5.1995 Bonetti, David, “John Beech at Paule Anglim,” San Francisco Examiner, 12.1.1995 AWARDKelley, /RESIDENCIES Jeff, text for Corcoran Biennial Catalogue, 12.1995 Sultan, Terrie, “Off the Wall and Beyond the Frame,” Catalogue essay “44th Biennial 1999 TheExhibition Pollock of-Krasner Contemporary Foundation American Award Painting, The Corcoran Gallery.” 11.1995 1998 TheTaplin, Chinati Robert, Foundation, “John Beech Residency, at Miles Marfa, Bellamy,” Texas Art in America, 2.1995 19921993 SECABaker, Award, Kenneth, San “Sculpture Francisco With Museum Poise of and Modern Humor,” Art, San San Francisco Francisco, Chronicle, California 11.10.1993 1985 MaybelleRoby, Dianne, Toombs “Beech Award at Anglim,”for Practice Artweek, of Art, 11.4.1993University of California, Berkeley Baker, Kenneth, “Things Good From Spectator’s View,” San Francisco Chronicle, 3.14.1993 PRINT MAKINGBonetti, David,PROJECTS “Mills / EDITIONS College,” San Francisco Examiner, 3.12.1993 1992 Watten, Barrett, “Cultural Strategists: 1992 SECA Art Award at SFMOMA,” Artweek, 201611.5.1992 Sides,' Edition of 15 painted seven inch vinyl records and sleeves PrintsBonetti, of David,Darkness “SFMOMA Printshop, SECA Long Exhibit,” Island City, 10.1992 NY 2015 PrintsBaker, of Kenneth, Darkness “John Printshop, Beech Long at Upaya,” Island City, ARTnews, NY 9.1992 2014 SmithBaker, Andersen Kenneth, Editions,“SECA Award Palo Alto, Show,” California San Francisco Chronicle, 9.27.1992 SubwayCaldwell, Plywoods, John and 1998 Bishop, – 1999, Janet, Portfolio essay (Editionand interview, of 6) of SECA9 color Art photogr Awardaphs Catalogue, taken in the NYSan City Francisco Subway Museum system of Modern Art, 9.1992 2013 ‘LoneZyzzyva Rail,’ Literary Arber Journal, and Son cover Editions, + 27 Marfa,pages ofTexas drawings reproduced, summer 1992 2012 TheFazzolari, Space Bruno, Surrounding, “Auto Conceptual,” Book with reproductions Artweek, 5.21.1992 of 31 Collages made while traveling in IndiaBaker, and Kenneth, 17 b/w “John photographs, Beech Builds Peter a BlumShow Edition, at Upaya,” New San York Francisco Chronicle, 4.27.1992 20111991 DieuPorges, Donné, Maria, New “San York, Francisco New York Fax,” Artissues, 11.1991 2010 SmithBonetti, Andersen David, “Door Editions,-Opening Palo Alto, Readymade,” California San Francisco Examiner, 9.17.1991 2008 ObscureLevi-Strauss, / Reveal, David, Book “John with Beech,” Edward California Albee, PeterMagazine, Blum Edition,9.1991 New York 2007 TinContainer Nyo, Paula, Series “No Edition, Pencils, Arber Selections and Son Bay Editions, Area Drawing,”Marfa, Texas Artweek, 5.1991 2001 LaPalma,Dumpster Marina,Template “(Con Monotypes,-Text),” New Smith Art Andersen Examiner, Editions, 3.1991 Palo Alto, California 1990 CarLevy,-Mat Mark, Print’ “Evans,” Edition, Art Smith Internat Andersenional, WinterEditions, 1990 Palo Alto, California 19891993 SmithBaker, Andersen Kenneth, Editions,“Promising Palo Debut Alto, ofCalifornia John Beech,” San Francisco Chronicle, 7.29.1989

PUBLICBIBLIOGRAPHY COLLECTIONS

Albright2016 Hoffmann,- Knox Art Gallery,Annette, Buffalo, 'Aller Anfang New York ist Grau,' Basler Zeitung, Basel, Switzerland, 6.25.2016 San2015 Francisco Prasentati Museumon des ofneuen Modern Buches Art, SanJohn Francisco, Beech, AZ California Solothurn, 6.23.2015 Manfred2014 Babics, Wandel Michael, / Stiftung 'John fur Beech: Konkrete Haus Kunst, der Reutlingen, Kunst St.Josef,' Germany Kunst Bulletin,10.2014 OaklandBuhrfeind, Museum, Eva, Oakland, 'Der Ausstellungsraum California als' Atelier und Ort der Inspiration,' San JoseAZ MuseumMedian Derof Art, Sonntag San Jose, # 37, California 9.2014 2012University Irwin, Art Matthew, Museum, ‘TimeBerkeley, Expanded,’ California Art Ltd, 11.2012 LagunaNathan, Art Museum, Emily, Laguna‘John Beech: Beach, The California Space Surrounding,’ Artnet.com, 4.2012 Museum2011 ‘Hybrid of Art, Dumpster Fort Lauderdale, Drawings,’ Flori Azurebumble.wordpres.com,da 12.22.2011 de SaissetGoodman, Museum, Jonathan, Santa Clara ‘John University, Beech atCalifornia Peter Blum Gallery,’ Sculpture Magazine, 11.2011 The MartinBuhrfeind, Z.Margulies Eva, ‘ExtraCollection, fur dieses Miami, Haus Florida geschaffen,’ AZ Median Der Sonntag # 41, 10.16.2011 Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland Microsoft Corporation, Seattle, Washington Sidley and Austin, New York, New York Pfizer Corporation, New York, New York Bank of America, Los Angeles, California Robertson Stevens & Co., San Francisco, California Roche, Switzerland Swiss Re, New York, New York KFW Bank, Frankfurt / Berlin, Germany Shoes or no Shoes? Ghent, Belgium

SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

Edward Albee, New York, New York Pamela17 Anderson, rue des Filles Los du Angeles, Calvaire, California 75003 Paris / +33 1 42 74 47 05 / www.fillesducalvaire.com Agnes Bourne, San Francisco, California Matthew & Nancy Browar, La Jolla, California Natalie and Irving Forman, Santa Fe, New Mexico Ann Hatch, San Francisco, California Michael and Roberta Joseph, Williamsville, New York Marilyn Minter, New York Verena and Niklaus Mueller, Zurich, Switzerland Steven Oliver, San Francisco, California Ms. Panza, Switzerland Robert Storr, New York, New York David White, New York, New York