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Gagosian London's Massive Survey Defines Spray Art
BY RACHEL WILL | JUNE 11, 2015

From blow pipes to aerosol paint to industrial paint compressors, artists have employed a myriad of methods to play with the forces of spray. Gagosian Gallery of London has organized a massive survey of the art form spanning four generations and a variety of mediums featuring more than 50 artists including Paul Klee, Jean-Michael Basquiet, Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, Takashi Murakami, Anish Kapoor, and Jeff Koons, among others.

Curated by Jona Lueddeckens and Greg Bergner, the exhibition begins in 1929 with Paul Klee’s work “Seltsames Theater,” in which a blow pipe is used to create a hazy background in a circus scene. The show advances to include works from the mid-1950s including David Smith’s sprayed enamels reminiscent of cave paintings and John Chamberlain’s use of abstracted automobile parts, enhanced with sprays of color.

The late sixties showed new techniques and political infusions, such as Keith Haring’s pictography that covered bodies, canvases, and public spaces. Dan Christensen employed a spray gun to create circular patterns, while Andy Warhol experimented with human excretion but urinating on canvases covered in metallic paint in his series of “Oxidation Paintings.”

Recent decades have shown a tension between free-form spray and control, such as works by Albert Oehlen, Christopher Wool, and Rudolf Stingel. Katharina Grosse’s canvas speaks to intricate techniques of layering, where overlapping colors intersect and overlap, creating new permutations of color.

The full list of featured artists includes Justin Adian, Richard Artschwager, Tauba Auerbach, Martin Barré, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Batchelor, Dike Blair, John Chamberlain, Dan Christensen, Dan Colen, Ida Ekblad, Jeff Elrod, Urs Fischer, Jack Goldstein, Piero Golia, Kim Gordon, Katharina Grosse, Wade Guyton, Richard Hamilton, Keith Haring, Hans Hartung, Alex Israel, Anish Kapoor, Paul Klee, Jeff Koons, Harmony Korine, John Latham, Joseph Logan, Nate Lowman, Olivier Mosset, Takashi Murakami, Albert Oehlen, Jules Olitski, David Ostrowski, Steven Parrino, Sigmar Polke, Stephen Prina, Ugo Rondinone, Pamela Rosenkranz, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Mira Schendel, Julian Schnabel, David Smith, Rudolf Stingel, Blair Thurman, Charline von Heyl, Andy Warhol, Lawrence Weiner, Franz West, Michael Williams, Christopher Wool, and Richard Wright.

Gagosian Gallery's “Sprayed” is on view from June 11-August 1.

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