Lawrence Markey

Lawrence Markey is pleased to present the exhibition Helmut Federle Drawings 1970s, on view June through July, 2022. This is Helmut Federle’s first solo exhibition at Lawrence Markey. Helmut Federle was born in Solothurn, Switzerland in 1944.  He currently lives and works in Vienna and in Camaiore, Italy. In a career spanning decades, Federle has become known for large scale paintings that resist easy categorization. Federle’s works on paper represent a significant part of the artist’s oeuvre in like manner. For our exhibition Helmut Federle selected 15 drawings, created between 1974–1979, and never before exhibited. Mediums include acrylic, pencil, ink and watercolor, on either paper or board. They measure close to standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch letter paper. These finished compositions recall images of mountain peaks, signs and landscapes. Stylistically the drawings explore modes of mark making, geometry, reduction and addition, precise verses painterly; always, as the artist says, “strongly guided through nature.” Notably, in the five year span between 1974 and 1979 Federle traveled extensively across North Africa, parts of Asia and the USA; viewing exhibitions by American artists including Agnes Martin, Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman. Federle was creatively prolific throughout these travels, saying in a 2021 interview “drawings were never meant as sketches for the paintings, they were pieces by themselves, defined pieces. . . .Drawing was a way of expressing on limited dimensions. . .expressing inner experiences, inner need, in different mediums.”* *.Parra & Romero, “Basics on Composition/Informal Multitudes”,” Vimeo video, 18:48, Parallel Uploader, October 23, 2020, https://vimeo.com/471405091,7:54. *image: Helmut Federle, Untitled, 1978, Pencil on paper, 8 1/4 x 11 3/8 inches