Gene Beery

Gene Beery moved to New York City in 1959. Befriending artists like Sol LeWitt and James Rosenquist,he used his time in the city to create his signature style of text-based painting that blended the philosophical sincerity of Conceptualism with the wit and color of Pop. Beery continued to refine this technique when he moved to the West Coast in the mid-1960s. Continuing to evolve first in SanFrancisco and later in the remote woods of the Sierra Nevada Foothills, his paintings became more formally reduced while retaining and distilling their comical punch.

The exhibition in Cologne comprises works from four decades. With a group of large-scale word paintings from the 1960s, installations of recent small-scale work, and a selection of the artist’s photographic work, the show provides a rare glimpse into a singular, and still underappreciated career.

Organized by Gregor Quack