Spice of Life

On view from September 14th through October 30th in Vito Schnabel Gallery, the solo exhibition presents works of late Ron Gorchov. In Vito Schnabel’s words: “Ron Gorchov’s paintings embody a very rare optimism that can only come from a profound belief in abstract art and the ability to convey a deeply felt human connection through it”. Gorchov created his first shaped canvas work in Mark Rothko’s studio, and is best known for helping to spearhead the shaped canvas movement.

The gallerist’s and the artist’s relationship goes way back to the early 2000s, when the two met, and Vito Schnabel immediately gravitated toward the curved “shield” and “saddle” shaped canvases he viewed in the artist’s studio. In 2005 Gorchov’s paintings became the subject of the first solo exhibition Schnabel curated. At the time, Gorchov’s work had not been presented publicly in over a decade, and the small survey ignited resurgent interest in the artist’s work and his place in the evolution of postwar American painting. This year’s exhibition will feature a selection of exceptional paintings made by Gorchov across the course of his fifty-year career, from the 1970s to the late 2010s.