Conrad Marca-Relli: Collages on Paper
April 22 through May 28, 2004

The 20 works in this exhibition date from the 1950s and 1960s. Conrad Marca-Relli was considered an Abstract Expressionist but Marca-Relli's medium of freely cut abstract shapes in canvas, burlap, metal and vinyl, sometimes painted, was unique in the New York School.

These works by Marca-Relli have this freshness and intimacy.They are spontaneous and strong, and they represent past and new ideas that can be recognized in his later works on canvas or metal. They have that sacred sense of harmony that permeates all his work throughout his long, fertile career. Their composition and color are also representative of Conrad's work and show that no matter what medium he chose to work with, he always produced the magic of pictorial excellence only reserved for great artists.

During Marca-Relli's life, many solo exhibitions of his collages were held at the Stable Gallery, Kootz Gallery, Marlborough Gallery, and Marisa del Re Gallery. In 1967, a retrospective exhibition was organized by the Whitney Museum. Marca-Relli's work has been shown extensively in Europe, particularly Italy where he died in Parma in 2000. Marca-Relli was included in the 1955 Venice Biennale, Documenta II, and in 1999 a retrospective was held at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum.