Proximities

Pazo Fine Art is pleased to announce Proximities, an exhibition of new paintings by Olivier Mosset, Michael Scott, and Blair Thurman, on view at PFA-Kensington from September 30 through December 21, 2023. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 30th, from 6 to 8 PM.

Although the three artists have known each other since the late 1980s, when they lived and worked near one another in New York City, Proximities will be their first three-person show. The works featured are examples of formal abstraction, using bold colors, shapes, and forms to incite open-ended physical experiences of surface, scale, and pattern. In the ’60s, Olivier Mosset was a member of the radical Paris-based collective now known as “BMPT”; with his co-founders Daniel Buren, Michel Parmentier, and Niele Toroni, he questioned notions of authorship and originality. Known for his self-evident works, often using simple geometric shapes and monochromatic color fields, he was a key influence on the generation of Neo-Geo painters that emerged in the ’80s. Blair Thurman injects a fresh vitality into his works by fusing pop culture and abstraction. His work utilizes vibrant colors, neon lights, and found forms from daily life, examining the memory and poetry embedded in the very act of looking. Michael Scott’s paintings on aluminum panels juxtapose narrow vertical lines in different colors and patterns. His artworks produce an optical impact that makes them difficult to look at and compels the viewer to see them differently each time. United less by a common aesthetic than by the intensity of their commitment to their individual practices, these artists showcase the dynamic range of work in the post-minimal field, inviting audiences to engage with their work in subliminal and personal ways.

A full-color catalogue with a conversation between the three featured artists and art critic Molly Warnock will be published to accompany this exhibition.

Artists Bios:

Olivier Mosset was born in 1944 in Bern, Switzerland. Mosset’s work has been featured in several solo and group exhibitions. Among many honors, he represented Switzerland at the Biennale di Venezia in 1990. Recent solo museum exhibitions include Musée de Beaux-Arts La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland (1985); Centre d’Art Contemporain, France (1985); “Olivier Mosset 65–85,” Musée Sainte-Croix, France (1985); Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva (1986); Musée Saint Pierre Art Contemporain, Lyon (1987); “Arbeiten/travaux/works 1966–2003,” Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, Switzerland (2003); “Windows,” Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2006); Museo d’Arte di Mendrisio, Switzerland (2009); “A step backwards,” Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, France (2010); “Leaving the Museum,” Kunsthalle Zürich, Switzerland (2012); “Sous apparence,” Opéra national de Paris, Palais Garnier, Paris (2012); “Fakes, fêlures and walls,” Musée Régional d'Art Contemporain Languedoc-Roussillon à Sérignan, France (2013). Mosset currently lives and works in New York and Arizona.

Blair Thurman was born in 1961 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He received his B.F.A. from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Canada, and his M.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Thurman’s work has been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions. Recent solo museum exhibitions include Le Magasin—Centre National d’Art Contemporain, France (2014); and “Honeybadgers,” Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma (2015). Thurman’s work is featured in several permanent collections, including the Centre national des arts plastique, Paris; Le Consortium, Dijon; Fonds régional d’art contemporain, France; and the Syz Collection, Switzerland. Thurman’s work was included in the 46th Biennale di Venezia in 1995. Thurman currently lives and works in New York.

Michael Scott was born in 1958 in Paoli, Pennsylvania. He studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and received an MFA from Hunter College in 1983. Scott began exhibiting his conceptually based abstract paintings at the Tony Shafrazi gallery in the late 1980s. Since then, his work has been exhibited widely in the US, Asia, and Europe in both gallery and museum exhibitions. His paintings are included in many public collections, including Le Consortium (Dijon, France); Le FRAC Nord-Pas de Calais (Dunkerque, France); MAMCO (Geneva, Switzerland); Le Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts (Lausanne, Switzerland); Kunsthalle Bern (Bern, Switzerland); Fonds Cantonal d’Art Contemporain, Switzerland, Musee des Beaux-Arts, la Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, MACBA (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LACMA (Los Angeles, USA). Scott currently lives and works in New York.