Tony Greene

Curated by John Neff
With contributions from Elijah Burgher, Edie Fake, Miller & Shellabarger, Paul P., Dean Sameshima, Scott Treleaven, and Latham Zearfoss

Opening reception: Saturday, April 5, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Reading by Kevin Killian: Saturday, April 19, 7:30 PM
April 5 – May 5, 2014

Iceberg Projects is pleased to present an exhibition of works by the late Los Angeles artist Tony Greene (1955 – 1990). The artist’s paintings are currently featured in a presentation at the Whitney Biennial curated by artists Richard Hawkins and Catherine Opie. Curated by John Neff, Iceberg’s exhibition will be among the first exhibitions of work by Tony Greene since the early 1990s.

During a brief but prolific career, Greene developed a hybrid method of collage painting that crossbred biomorphic abstraction, outré decorative devices, and montage techniques informed by the artist’s studies at CalArts. Diverse in their influences and sources, Greene’s works are strikingly consistent in mood and style. The art’s pervasive atmosphere of seductive dis-ease, accented by elements of camp posturing, grows as much from the writings of Denton Welch as it does from mainstream American art of its time. Marked by the AIDS crisis that threatened the artist and his world, the paintings also represent a pioneering insight into how Conceptualism’s bone-dry aesthetic might be given the wet bite of life, love, and sex. It is in this regard that – as well as being overlooked witnesses of an historical moment – Greene’s works are vital examples for some contemporary audiences.

Reflecting the current revival of interest in Greene’s art – and the networks through which that interest flows – Iceberg’s exhibition will nest his paintings within a selection of pieces by younger artists practicing in his spirit and/or involved in bringing his work to light in the new millennium. These artists include Elijah Burgher, Edie Fake, Miller & Shellabarger, Paul P., Dean Sameshima, Scott Treleaven, and Latham Zearfoss.

A digital catalogue of the exhibition, including a text assembled by the curator from interviews with colleagues of the artist and scholars of his work, will be published to accompany the exhibition. The publication will include a catalogue raisonné of missing works by Greene. A catalogue release, and a reading by San Francisco based writer Kevin Killian, will be held at Iceberg on April 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Iceberg wishes to thank Richard Hawkins, and Ray Morales representing the estate of estate of Norm MacNeil, for their assistance in realizing this project.

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Tags: Dean Sameshima, Edie Fake, Elijah Burgher, iceberg projects, John Neff, Latham Zearfoss, Miller & Shellabarger, Paul P., Scott Treleaven, Tony Greene