Mary Ann Unger, Fluid Line: 1968–83

Mary Ann Unger, Fluid Line: 1968–83
January 10–February 16, 2019

Davidson Gallery is pleased to present Fluid Line: 1968–83 a solo exhibition of work by Mary Ann Unger. This show—our third exhibition of Unger’s work—will focus specifically on the sculptures and drawings from the first half of her career. The title of the exhibition references the highly detailed geometric-meets-biomorphic imagery evidenced throughout the works, but also to the ease with which Unger transitioned between and among styles.

This 15-year period proved extremely productive for Unger who, through worldwide travels, graduate school, and the birth of her daughter, found an inspiration and drive that would be drastically altered in the final years of her life. It is work from these earlier years that has recently entered the permanent collections of both the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Mary Ann Unger was a New York-based artist who began her career in the late 1960s, an artistic period in which she was one of several female artists deserving and worthy of recognition, but who never quite received her due. She received an MFA from Columbia in 1975, and had solo exhibitions throughout the 80s and 90s, until her untimely death in 1998 at the age of 53. Though her work is in the permanent collections of many major institutions in the US, she is far from a household name, having been cut down in the prime of her art career.

In conjunction with the Mary Ann Unger Estate, housed in Unger’s former home and studio, Davidson Gallery has continued to present the artist’s drawings and sculptures from a across her prolific but truncated career. Concurrent with this exhibition, the Mary Ann Unger Estate will have on display the artist’s seminal late sculpture installation, Across the Bering Strait, available for viewing by appointment.