Lynn Hershman Leeson

Sep 22 - Oct 31, 2020
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    "The mask has always been a way to hide one's own vulnerability. Today, masks are interfaces that mutate through connectivity, merging the past and present through use." 

     

    - Lynn Hershman Leeson in an E-mail to author Andreas Beitin, August 13, 2014.

  • Altman Siegel is pleased to present new works addressing the mask as an identity construct by legendary Feminist artist Lynn Hershman Leeson.

  • In this presentation Lynn Hershman Leeson applies a 2020 filter to her ever-evolving aesthetic, in this case, new works on paper of masked women, which were made during, and directly reference, the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic. These drawings are new, yet they follow conceptual trajectories clearly defined from the earliest stages of her practice. In these works, Hershman Leeson thematizes the socially relevant development of masks, updating and extending their significance as symbols of an archetype or an avatar. A theme that she has been exploring since 1965. As Hershman Leeson’s work regularly operates in anticipation of social change, rather than as a reaction to it, her work consistently exists as if in a state of sociopolitical and intellectual preparation.

  • Aesthetically, the primarily figurative works appear effortlessly rendered in the artist’s signature mark-making approach and feature open compositions that embrace negative space and poetic connections between shapes and lines within the compositions. Subtle color and collage elements activate the compositional arrangements and line renderings. The works resonate with a playful energy and a masterfully light touch. While her works can and do pursue dark and serious conditions, they always maintain an honest and approachable sense of humor and humanity.

  • Lynn Hershman Leeson has received significant international acclaim for her art and films. She is recognized for her decades of innovative work investigating and articulating issues that are now clearly identifiable as key mechanisms of society, such as relationships between humans and technology, identity constructs, surveillance, and the harnessing of media as a tool of empowerment against censorship and political repression. Looking back at her practice reveals a vivid sense of premonition, which speaks to the keen insight she has developed with every project.

    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Im Taking This One, 2020 Ink on paper 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Im Taking This One, 2020
      Ink on paper
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson This Will Be Over In A Week, 2020 Collage, watercolor 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      This Will Be Over In A Week, 2020
      Collage, watercolor
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Untitled, 2020 Ink on paper, mylar collage 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Untitled, 2020
      Ink on paper, mylar collage
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson You Remind Me Of Someone I Used To Know, 2020 Pen, ink , collage 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      You Remind Me Of Someone I Used To Know, 2020
      Pen, ink , collage
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Eye Protection For Reality, 2020 Burnt paper, ashes, collage, pencil 15 1/2 x 12 1/2 in 39.4 x 31.8 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Eye Protection For Reality, 2020
      Burnt paper, ashes, collage, pencil
      15 1/2 x 12 1/2 in
      39.4 x 31.8 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Take Them Not Me, 2020 Ink, paper, collage, watercolor 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Take Them Not Me, 2020
      Ink, paper, collage, watercolor
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Burning Through Time, 2020 Ashes, burnt paper, pen, collage 14 3/4 x 12 1/2 in 37.5 x 31.8 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Burning Through Time, 2020
      Ashes, burnt paper, pen, collage
      14 3/4 x 12 1/2 in
      37.5 x 31.8 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Feeling Really Alone, 2020 Watercolor, ink 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Feeling Really Alone, 2020
      Watercolor, ink
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Take Her Not Me, 2020 Ink, paper, collage 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Take Her Not Me, 2020
      Ink, paper, collage
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson No One Can See Me Coming, 2020 Watercolor 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      No One Can See Me Coming, 2020
      Watercolor
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Taking Control This One Next, 2020 Pen, ink, acrylic 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Taking Control This One Next, 2020
      Pen, ink, acrylic
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Negative Space, 2020 Ink on paper 18 x 14 in 45.7 x 35.6 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Negative Space, 2020
      Ink on paper
      18 x 14 in
      45.7 x 35.6 cm
    • Lynn Hershman Leeson Hand to Mouth, 1967 - 2020 Wax, gold dust, watch 11 x 7 x 7 in 27.9 x 17.8 x 17.8 cm
      Lynn Hershman Leeson
      Hand to Mouth, 1967 - 2020
      Wax, gold dust, watch
      11 x 7 x 7 in
      27.9 x 17.8 x 17.8 cm
  • Lynn Hershman Leeson (b. 1941, Cleveland, OH) lives and works in San Francisco and New York. Recent solo exhibitions have...

    Lynn Hershman Leeson (b. 1941, Cleveland, OH) lives and works in San Francisco and New York. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo Comunidad de Madrid (2019); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2018); Haus der elektronischen Künste, Basel (2018); Modern Art Oxford, UK (2015); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2013), and the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester (2007). Her work has been included in group exhibitions at the de Young Museum, San Francisco (2020); The Shed, New York (2019); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2019); Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (2018); Whitney Museum of American Art (2017); and Whitechapel Gallery, London (2016); as well as international exhibitions, including the Riga Biennial of Contemporary Art (2018), and the forthcoming 2020 Gwangju Biennial in Korea. 

     

    Her films – Electronic Diaries 1984-2019, Strange Culture, Teknolust, Conceiving Ada, !Women Art Revolution: A Secret History, and Tania Libre are all in worldwide distribution and have screened the Sundance Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival, among others. Hershman Leeson has received numerous awards, including the award of distinction at Ars Electronica (2020), a VIA Art Fund Award (2019), a Siggraph Lifetime Achievement Award (2018), the College Art Association’s Distinguished Feminist Award (2018), the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award from the 60th San Francisco International Film Festival (2017), a United States Artists Fellowship (2016), an Anonymous Was a Woman Award (2014), a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2009) and the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica (1999).

  • FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT ALTMAN SIEGEL AT (415) 576-9300 OR INFO@ALTMANSIEGEL.COM.