Sam Gilliam's seventh solo exhibition at the Marsha Mateyka Gallery features new paintings in acrylic on birch.   The artist became well known in the 1960's for his drape paintings and as a Washington Color School painter.   He represented the United States at the Venice Bienniale in 1972.   In 2005, the Corcoran Gallery of Art celebrated Sam Gilliams's work with a major career retropective which traveled to three venues, closing at Houston's Museum of Contemporary art in 2007.

Sam Gilliam describes the "over and under" quality of these new paintings as "mixing various levels of content at the surface.   I want to focus on the "how" as well as the "what".   I've done this before, yet, it's still new to me.   I am thinking about what is next."

These new works combine the splatter of the early drapes, the lush poured surfaces of the birch and piano hinged paintings and the construction of the Slatt series.   Sam Gilliam's paintings are in major museum collections throughout the US and abroad.

For further information contact the gallery at 202 328-0088.