L.A. Louver is pleased to present a solo exhibition titled “Nerve Lines and Fever Dreams” featuring new work by Heather Gwen Martin, featuring abstract oil paintings in a variety of sizes, and a series of intimate gouache on paper in saturated tones.

Garden Party, 2021, oil on linen, 35×371⁄2in.(88.9×95.3cm)

The paintings in “Nerve Lines and Fever Dreams” were made during this strange pandemic period and reflect the lockdown-heightened awareness of both the body in the world and the mind in the body. These dueling physical and metaphysical concerns create a push-pull of compositional energy: Martin’s rich colors ignite the mind, while organic forms and lines encourage an embodied, dancing sort of viewing — quick, and then slow. Ideas that begin as sub- conscious stories via dreams and sense memories are communicated through the bodily act of painting.

The expression of these bodily systems through painting illuminates an intimacy between the self and the environment. By translating the experience of the world onto the painted surface, Martin establishes a connection between actions on the canvas and in the world. She communicates the feeling of sun on skin with the bold, hot color of High Noon, and the tranquility of a quiet garden with the hothouse colors of Fever Dream.

The exhibition will also include a suite of intimately scaled works on paper that throb with a chromic intensity that belies their petite dimensions. These works adapt Martin’s signature blend of lyricism and impeccable color sense to a new medium: gouache on paper. Scape, though just under four inches square, conveys a monumentality of form, with its deep blue-violet form looming behind outgrowths of pale lilac and a rich vein of marigold.

Concurrently on view at L.A. Louver (May 24 – July 2, 2021): FIRST FLOOR GALLERY; Rebecca Campbell: Infinite Density, Infinite Light

What: “Nerve Lines and Fever Dreams”
Where: L.A. Louver, 45 N Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
When: May 24 – July 2, 2021
Website: http://www.lalouver.com/