BERLIN.- Galerie Max Hetzler is presenting an exhibition with new works by American painter Ron Gorchov at Bleibtreustraße 45. This is the artist's first solo exhibition with the gallery.

Being deeply engaged in the exploration of liberating ideas of form, Ron Gorchov has been working with shaped canvases since the late 1960's. His custom-fabricated, saddle-like stretchers avoid the clear edges of an ordinary canvas – contrary to the rigid format of the rectangle that dominated the medium of painting at that time – and offer a novel investigation of space, scale and surface.

Simple variations of coloured, organic shapes build the centre of Gorchov's works. Often two seemingly opposing forms build a contrast to the background, creating an elementary composition that shifts between impressions of balance and disparity: A constant dialogue between the single elements that is expanded and intensified by the curved and warped surface of the objects. Opening the picture plane to the space in front of it and exposing their stretchers otherwise closely attached to the wall, the artist's works allow an unusual experience of depth. Diverging from the impression of a flat screen, they fuse ideas of painting and sculpture.

The exhibition at Galerie Max Hetzler presents a selection of recent paintings from 2017 and 2018. Vivid tones prevail these oil on linen works. The structure of the fabric partly shines through thinly applied paint that drips and runs down the surface. Each title of the present works alludes to a character from greek mythology, a common reference in Gorchov's oeuvre.

Clearly standing out from this selection, the work Ascella – taking its title from a star located in constellation of the archer – forms part of the so called stack paintings. Six monochromatic panels are piled above each other, building an ascending arrangement of shaped canvases. The basic structure and harmony of this work explicitly emphasizes Gorchov's ongoing argument with existing forms and his deep interest in investigating new dimensions of the medium of painting.

Ron Gorchov (*1930, Chicago) lives and works in New York. His works formed part of solo and group exhibitions at important institutions and galleries such as MoMA PS1, New York; Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; The Bruce High Quality Foundation, New York; Vito Schnabel Gallery, St. Moritz and New York; Cheim & Read, New York, among others. Gorchov’s paintings are included in renowned collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Detroit Institutes of Art, Michigan; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the Everson Museum of Art, New York.