Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin; Private collection, New York
Catalogue Essay
For the past thirty years Mary Heilmann has been championed as the consummate artist’s artist. Her un-fussy approach is as notable for the unremitting intimacy it admits as the quixotic sociability it invites… “casual” is one of the most common words describing Heilmann’s paintings, which so gracefully traverse craft traditions popular culture and the fine arts. Owing in part to her works’ messy assurance, by turns glib and erudite, Heilmann also confounds irony and sincerity. With their visceral convolutions of color, runny streaks of paint and riotous compositions, her recent paintings wear their pleasures on their sleeve. S. Hudson, Whitney Museum of American Art: 2008 Whitney Biennial Exhibition, New York, p. 153