Monique van Genderen

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 10th 6—9 PM

The Happy Lion is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by Los Angeles-based artist Monique van Genderen entitled My Watercolor Story. For her second solo show with the gallery, van Genderen will hang large and small scale paintings alongside an installation of artist's books. This dynamic presentation of paint in several modes underscores a deepening in the artist's ongoing dialogue with materiality in abstraction. This exhibition marks a distinct transition in the artist's work-a departure from her signature material of vinyl adhesive film to paint: specifically enamel, oil and exhibited here for the first time, an intensive study of watercolor. Similar to her use of vinyl in earlier work, van Genderen not only succeeds in producing straight-forward, lush compositions in watercolor on paper as shown in the artist's books, but also presents large-scale paintings made in enamel on wood panels which, amazingly, seem to mimic the delicate qualities of watercolor-in surface, composition and mood. My Watercolor Story also showcases van Genderen's command of palette, a bold use of color that brings surprising resonance to the compositions. Monique van Genderen is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and received her MFA from California Institute of the Arts. She is an internationally exhibited artist who has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions including Closer to Home: The 48th Corcoran Biennial at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, Snapshot: New Art from Los Angeles at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. This spring van Genderen was in a two person exhibition at Le Consortium in Dijon, France as well as gallery shows in Frankfort and Cologne, Germany. She is the recipient of many awards, including an Artist in Residency at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. Her work is included in private and public collections including the Altoids Collection and The Norton Family Foundation. She has recently been commissioned to complete a large wall piece for the upcoming re-opening of the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.

Monique van Genderen
My Watercolor Story