Seven never-before exhibited paintings by Leon Golub (1922-2004) will be shown in the west gallery. Spanning fifteen years and several of Golub's most acclaimed series -- including the Burnt Man and Napalm works -- these paintings explore human violence and the politics of power with the intensity that made Golub a monumental and controversial figure in the art world through the last half of the twentieth century.

These seven paintings incorporate many of the formal traits that separated Golub from his contemporaries. Painted to the very edges of unstretched canvases cut or torn into irregular shapes, Golub's fragmentary figures seem to be ripped from larger scenes of chaos, violent conflict, and human struggle. Throughout his career, he returned to these iconic figures and poses to continually address the violence of war -- even as many of his contemporaries moved into abstraction and less politically-charged subject matter.

In addition to these scenes of bodily distress, Golub also returned to other motifs throughout his long career, such as mythical creatures and Greek Classicism. These themes are evident in the group of small-scale drawings from 2002-2003 on view in GRIFFIN's project room. While these smaller works are by no means a retreat from Golub's aesthetic ferocity, the artist expressed joy in the freedom of working in this format. He identified the drawings as a way of "slithering through, skimming, interrupting" while still being "political and aggressive."

Golub’s work was featured in Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany and a major, touring retrospective in 2001. His work may be found in most major 20th Century museum collections around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Tate Gallery, London. 

For additional information, please contact the gallery at 310-586-6886 or e-mail info@GriffinLA.com.