Julian Schnabel

His use of preexisting materials not traditionally used in art making, varied painting surfaces and modes of construction were pivotal in the reemergence of painting in the United States. Resisting the turn to traditional conventions of painting and sculpture that characterized the 1980s, he began his series of Plate Paintings, representational works with sculptural surfaces produced by layering shards of found pottery with thick applications of pigment. Throughout his career, he has sustained his use of found materials and chance-based processes, transforming the conventions of painting and opening the door for a new generation of young artists. Since his first solo exhibition in 1979, Schnabel has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including retrospectives organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1987); Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona (1995); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2004); Museo Correr, Venice (2011); Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, Connecticut (2013); Museo de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (2014); the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor (2015); the Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2016); The Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut (2017); and Aros Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark (2018).