SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are presenting an exhibition of works by four of the gallery’s leading women artists—Cao Fei, Jenny Holzer, Karen Kilimnik and Louise Lawler—at Gallery 181, San Francisco. In each of their bodies of work, art and architecture is self-consciously explored, often with overt references to the work of others. Across paintings, photographs, sculptures and video, they examine the objects and structures that surround, enclose and affect us day-to-day.

Each of these artists occupies a key place within both the history of modern and contemporary art and the history of Sprüth Magers: Jenny Holzer and Louise Lawler, whose powerful feminist works began to appear in the late 1970s, often postered around New York City, were part of the gallery’s influential Eau de Cologne projects of the 1980s and 1990s that brought together American and European women artists in exhibitions and publications. Karen Kilimnik represents a key voice of the 1990s through today, and also a whimsical exploration of figurative painting, lush with references to art history and contemporary culture. Cao Fei, whose career developed in the early 2000s, captures the concerns of a new millennium and the advances and perils of globalization.

This presentation at Gallery 181 highlights key projects by each artist, including both recent and historical works, and offer a nuanced view of women’s perspectives on an ever-changing world.

Cao Fei (*1978, Guangzhou) lives and works in Beijing. Selected solo shows include MAXXI Museo Nationale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (both 2021), Serpentine Galleries, London (2020), Centre Pompidou, Paris (2019), the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative at Guggenheim Museum New York, Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong and K21 Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf (all 2018), MoMA PS1 (2016), Secession, Vienna and Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht (both 2015) and Tate Modern, London (2013).

Jenny Holzer (*1950, Gallipolis, OH) lives and works in New York. Selected solo shows include Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (2019), and Tate Modern, London (2019), Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams (2017– present), Blenheim Art Foundation, Woodstock (2017), Lune Rouge and Art Projects Ibiza (2016), Museo Correr, Venice(2015), Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2011, 2001), Foundation Beyeler, Basel and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (both 2009), The Barbican Centre, London (2006), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1991), Hamburger Kunsthalle (2000), ICA, London (1988), as well as Dia Art Foundation, New York and Guggenheim Museum, New York (both 1989).

Karen Kilimnik (*1955, Philadelphia, PA). Selected solo exhibitions include Le Consortium, Dijon (2013, 2007), the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver (2013), The Brant Foundation, Greenwich (2012), the Belvedere Museum, Vienna (2010), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (2008), the Serpentine Gallery, London (2007), the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami (2007), the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2006), the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice (2005), Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2002) and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia (1992).

Louise Lawler (*1947, Bronxville, NY) lives in Brooklyn, New York. Selected solo exhibitions include Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (2019), Sammlung Verbund, Vienna (2018), MoMA, New York (2017), Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2013), Albertinum, Dresden (2012), Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (2006), Dia:Beacon, New York (2005), and Museum for Gegenwartskunst, Basel (2004). Selected group exhibitions include Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2019, 2016, 2012, 2009, 2003), Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2006, 2004, 1991, 1988), MoMA, New York (2019, 2010, 1999), MUMOK, Vienna (2015, 2011), Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2014, 2003) and the Whitney Museum, New York (2013, 2002, 2001, 2000), which additionally featured the artist in its 1991, 2000, and 2008 biennials.