BRUSSELS.- Maruani Mercier is now presenting the first solo exhibition of Paul Mogensen at their Brussels gallery, with works made between 2016 and 2022 that follow the eponymous mathematical algorithm (n+1) utilized throughout the artist’s oeuvre. He determines the height, width, and placement of squares through elemental mathematics, particularly those deriving from Renaissance and Ancient Egyptian theorems.
Although working spontaneously, Mogensen nevertheless operates within a set of parameters: hard edges, a minimal palette, and predetermined logic. He never plans his works on paper, electing instead to compose directly on the canvas, explaining that “once you decide on the arithmetic and then you just make it, [the work] makes itself.” From this imperative, he has sustained decades of experimentation. In Mogensen’s practice, the ever-advancing, ever-diminishing progressional sequences of arithmetic and geometry are laid bare. Along with brushes, paint, and stand oil, he works with the infinite, creating paintings in which order becomes elegance.
Discover the Works
Paul Mogensen (b. 1941 in Los Angeles, CA) is a New York–based painter whose work is represented in the collections of major museums in the United States and internationally, including at Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, among many others.
Paul Mogensen (b. 1941 in Los Angeles, CA) is a New York–based painter whose work is represented in the collections of major museums in the United States and internationally, including at Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, Fogg Museum, Cambridge, MA, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, among many others.
