Sonia Gechtoff
Sonia Gechtoff
24 Jun – 26 Aug 2022
55 Walker

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Sonia Gechtoff, Installation view, 55 Walker, New York, NY, 2022

55 Walker (Bortolami, kaufmann repetto, and Andrew Kreps Gallery) is pleased to announce a retrospective of the late Ukrainian-American artist Sonia Gechtoff (b. 1926, d. 2018). Gechtoff was an acclaimed painter who began her career in Beat-era San Francisco but lived most of her life in New York City. Gechtoff was overlooked for much of her career but has received renewed interest in her early career palette knife paintings and later career works which synthesized painting and drawing. This exhibition, organized in partnership with David Richard Gallery and the Sonia Gechtoff Estate, includes paintings on canvas and paper made between 1958-2017.

Gechtoff is best known for her atmospheric abstractions of swirling colors redolent of seas, skies or smoke. Inspired by the work of Clyfford Still, Gechtoff developed a distinct technique of palette knife painting. Her drawings were executed similarly, with long deliberate strokes of graphite that evoke windswept grasses and vegetation.

Works

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Celestial Red

Celestial Red, 1994

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Sea Door

Sea Door, 1966

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Untitled

Untitled, 2004

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Garden, Wave and Waterfall

Garden, Wave and Waterfall, 2000

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Wild Waves III

Wild Waves III, 1984

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Wild Waves II

Wild Waves II, 1984

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Wild Wave VI

Wild Wave VI, 1984

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Wild Wave II

Wild Wave II, 1984

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Riders of the Wave

Riders of the Wave, 1992

Installation view of displayed artwork titled The Widow

The Widow, 1958

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Streamers 1

Streamers 1, 1989

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Memory of Cornwall

Memory of Cornwall, 1990

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Blue Solstice

Blue Solstice, 2017

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Untitled

Untitled, 1992

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Untitled

Untitled, 1992

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Untitled

Untitled, 1992

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Untitled

Untitled, 1989

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Untitled

Untitled, 1992

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Hiroshige Revisited

Hiroshige Revisited, 1988

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Hudson River Blue Green

Hudson River Blue Green, 2007

Installation view of displayed artwork titled Hudson River Skies Red

Hudson River Skies Red, 2011

Press

Johanna Fateman Sonia Gechtoff The New Yorker Aug 2022Sarah Cascone 11 Events for Your Art Calendar This Week Artnet Aug 2022John Yau Sonia Gechtoff Finally Gets Her Due Hyperallergic Jul 2022