Chronicling an Artistic Practice: Michael West Paintings and Archives from the 1950s to 1970s

About

Hollis Taggart is pleased to present its fourth solo exhibition of Michael  (Corinne) West (1908–1991) since taking on representation of her estate in 2019. Her featured  works from the 1950s to ’70s —some of which will be exhibited for the first time—will be  presented with related ephemera sourced from her archives, providing viewers with a more  holistic look at the inner workings of this Abstract Expressionist artist by exploring her thoughts,  motivations, and varied contemporary influences. Chronicling an Artistic Practice: Michael West  Paintings and Archives from the 1950s to 1970s will be on view on the first floor of Hollis Taggart  from January 9 through February 22, 2025, with an opening reception on Thursday, January 9,  from 5-8PM. 

A painter and poet of great spirit and vitality, West produced explosive, highly gestural Abstract  Expressionist works. A student of Hans Hofmann and a close friend of Arshile Gorky, West  associated and exhibited with members of the thriving New York avant-garde scene starting in the  mid-1940s. Though her early compositions closely resemble those of some of her peers, in the late  1940s and early 1950s West moved confidently into a more original aesthetic mode. The artist  began to rework earlier, more colorful gestural abstractions with heavy accumulations of neutral colored paint. West’s works from the late 1950s onwards exemplify her powerful use of  automatism, with vigorous slashes, splatters, and brushstrokes that coalesce into energetic masses. 

Though at the forefront of dialogues that shaped the Abstract Expressionist movement, the fiercely  independent West was largely indifferent to art world fame and distanced herself, though not  entirely, from the contemporaneous art scene. Even so, her artistic contributions to Abstract  Expressionism and American art history deserve to be highlighted. When Hollis Taggart acquired  the artist’s archive, the gallery was delighted to discover that West was a studious cataloguer of  her thoughts and experiences from the New York art world. She left behind a voluminous  collection of journals, personal photographs, correspondence, sketchbooks, studio notes, poems,  and philosophical essays on art. 

For this exhibition, the gallery has chosen to display archival material specific to individual  paintings, such as images of the works when they were first exhibited, the original exhibition  catalogues, or notes the artist took about specific paintings. At times these notes reveal her cutting  commentary about the art world of her time – in one she describes “third rate realism displayed in  gold frames [that] looked like someone had just cleared the attic” – and at others they reveal  important details about the first times these works were exhibited. In a note about the painting  White Writing (1966) – displayed here for the first time since its original exhibition – West notes,  “Last night, a Buddhist leader bought it.” The notes accompanying Gento Nise (1978) include  West’s meditations on the title and meaning of the work alongside a to-do list that includes a visit  to the dentist. 

Chronicling an Artistic Practice demonstrates not only the important insight that can be gained  from showing artworks alongside relevant personal papers, but also how an artist’s personality, 

sense of humor, and approach to daily life can be revealed through such archival materials. These  materials lend valuable context—not just to specific works of art—to West’s highly distinct vision  and style. In doing so, this exhibition captures the gallery’s ongoing engagement with expanding  the narratives of art history by illuminating not just the artworks of an underrecognized artist but  also her essence and personhood as a whole, as embodied by the informal records she maintained  throughout her life.  

Born in 1908 as Corinne West, the artist spent most of her formative years in Ohio, first in  Columbus and later in Cincinnati. There she attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before  enrolling the Cincinnati Art Academy in 1925, after opting for a career in the fine arts. West  relocated to New York in 1932, continuing her art education the following year at the Art Students’ League under Hans Hofmann, though she quit after six months as she felt his following was too  cultish. West exhibited widely during her lifetime, including at the Rose Fried Gallery in 1948 and  three years later at the Stable Gallery. In the late 1950s, West received a solo exhibition at the  Uptown Gallery, New York, as well at the Domino Gallery in Washington, D.C. Her one-person show  at the Uptown Gallery received praise for its energy and vitality, drawing comparisons to Pollock’s  work. The artist’s work has received critical attention over the past six decades, including  exhibitions at Art Centre, NY (1935), Stable Gallery, NY (1953), Pollock-Krasner House and Study  Center (1996) and a traveling exhibition at the Georgia Museum of Art (2007-08).