Maureen Paley is pleased to announce the representation of Avis Newman and to present The Weight of Souls I (2017–18) in Studio M, the gallery’s project space in Shoreditch, East London.
Avis Newman’s work is rooted in the conceptual space of drawing and incorporates canvas works, objects and works on paper. Her longstanding influences come from the symbolic worlds of ancient cultures and an interest in fundamental ideas of origin – as embodied in the moment of initial tracing and the genesis of the mark. Since 2007, she has identified her works as Configurations – ‘assemblages of interchangeable elements, layered, hung, and partially overlapped, which are arranged in sets or in sequences and that resist an absolute fixity.’ These works propose a series of mobile relations that exceed fixed boundaries.
Avis Newman (b. 1946) lives and works in London. Her work has featured in national and international solo and group exhibitions including A Very Special Place: Ikon in the 1990s, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK, 2021; Meticulous Observations and Naming the Money, the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 2017; More Light, 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2013; Avis Newman: Mobile Relations, The Gallery at Norwich University of the Arts, Norwich, UK, 2013; On Line: Drawing Through The Twentieth Century, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2010; Drawing of the World, World of Drawing, Seoul National University, Seoul, 2010; Between Metaphor and Object: Art of the 90’s from the IMMA Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2009; Questionmark, Wait, Error, Understood, National Museum of Art, Kaunas, 2004; Avis Newman: Descriptions, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2003; Contemporary Art: The Janet Wolfson de Botton Gift, Tate Britain, London, 1999 and Avis Newman: Blocking Light, Camden Arts Centre, London, 1996.
Newman’s works are part of museum and public collections including the Arts Council Collection, UK; British Council Collection, UK; Tate, UK; Weltkunst Collection, Zurich; Berardo Collection, Lisbon, Portugal; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Park; Washington DC, USA; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.
