SEPTEMBER 1 – NOVEMBER 3, 2021

OPENING RECEPTION
Wednesday, September 1st, 6 – 8 PM

SOCO Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of NEW WORK by BEVERLY FISHMAN, an exhibition of new paintings and collage works on paper by the artist. The gallery will host a public opening reception on Wednesday, September 1st from 6 – 8PM. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition with SOCO Gallery.

The exhibition will highlight Fishman’s unique use of materials and form to create powerful abstract pieces. The highly aesthetic, bright, bold paintings are reminiscent of classic mid-century hard edge abstraction and are influenced by the California light, space movement. 

Fishman’s multidisciplinary work explores the technological, scientific, and biological systems of perception and representation.  Her works seek to provoke conversations about the ways people see their bodies and minds, and create their identities.  Rooted in pharma industries, the artist tackles contemporary social issues of substance abuse and the pharmaceutical industries in the pandemic.   

“These alluring, ultra polished wall reliefs rendered in urethane paint seek to make tangible the physical and mental state for pain, anxiety and wellness. They also critique the pharmaceutical industry in an era of increasing agitation, addiction and mental health issues.” (Wallpaper Magazine, 2021)

The use of urethane automotive paint is a nod to Fishman’s Detroit roots where the artist worked as an Artist-in-Residence and Head of the Painting Department of the Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1992-2020.  Raised from the wall, the work produces a soft glow and magically appears backlit. It is a unique marriage of painting, design, and architecture.

The collages in the exhibition invite the viewer to engage with the artist’s process.  They are color studies for the larger forms produced in the paintings.

BEVERLY FISHMAN (Philadelphia, PA, B. 1955)

Beverly Fishman received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1977 from Philadelphia College of Art, and her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1980 from Yale University. Recent solo exhibitions include “I Dream of Sleep,” Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; “Monotypes, 2005-2006,” Louis Buhl & Co., Detroit, MI; “Studies on Relief,” Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL; “Fantastic Voyage, 1985-1987,” Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI; “Future Perfect,” Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL; Ronchini Gallery, London, United Kingdom; “Synthetic Wonderland,” Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach, FL; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; “Chemical Sublime,” Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL; “T.N.N.,” Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York, NY; “DOSE” (curated by Nick Cave), CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY; “Another Day in Paradise,” Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts,
University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL; and “Pain Management,” Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI

Recent group exhibitions include “Shapeshifters: Transformations in Contemporary Art,” Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI; “The Responsive Eye Revisited: Then, Now, and In-Between,” Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; “Driving Forces: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Ann and Ron Pizzuti,” Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; “Inaugural Exhibition,” Gavlak Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; “Constructed,” Contemporary Art Galleries, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT; “cart, horse, cart” (curated by Michael Goodson and Anna Stothart), Lehmann Maupin, New York, NY; “Double Edged: Geometric Abstraction Then and Now” (curated by Dr. Emily Stamey), Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC; “Shape, Rattle, and Roll,” Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, NY;  “Grafik” (curated by Ryan McGinness), Harper’s Books, East Hampton, NY; “Xeriscape - Nina Chanel Abney, Rosson Crow, Beverly Fishman, Tschabalala Self and Wendy White,” Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI; “Front International” (curated by Michelle Grabner), Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH; and “Public Matter,” Library Street Collective, Detroit, MI.

Her work is included in many public collections including Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH ; Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, CT; Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT; Eli and Edythe Broad Museum at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT; Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS; Stamford Museum & Nature Center, Stamford, CT; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH; and Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC.

She is the recipient of many awards, including Anonymous Was A Woman Award; Hassam, Speicher, Betts, and Symons Purchase Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters; Inductee, National Academy of Design; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship; Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award; Artist Space Exhibition Grant; and NEA Fellowship Grant, among others.

Fishman lives and works in Detroit, MI.