What Do Artists Diane Simpson and Professor Emerita Mernet Larsen Have In Common? A Fascination With the 45-Degree Angle - artnet
Top Image: Mernet Larsen, Ce虂zanne's House (2023) Photo: Phoebe d'Heurle. Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery.
Two exhibitions at James Cohan Gallery put the artists in dialogue.
by
March 20, 2024
What if we saw the world from a 45-degree angle? This topsy-turvy premise united two shows and at James Cohan, New York (Simpson鈥檚 show is on view through March 23; Larsen鈥檚 closed on March 16), wherein sculptures (Simpson鈥檚) and paintings (Larsen鈥檚) playfully vacillate between two and three dimensions.
Diane Simpson, Chaise (1979). Photo: Phoebe d鈥橦eurle. Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery.
They make an intriguing dyad. Now in the late years of their career鈥擫arsen is 84, Simpson 89鈥攂oth artists have made careers as art world nonconformists鈥攅ach with a unique visual language that ran outside the dominating art world narratives for decades. But even if they didn鈥檛 know it, these two artists were mining parallel fascinations. That synchronicity鈥攁nd where it diverges鈥攐ffers compelling thoughts on the ways these artists have devoted themselves to challenging the eye.
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