Matthew Marks is pleased to announce Ken Price Bulgogi, the next exhibition in his gallery at 1062 North Orange Grove, Los Angeles.

Bulgogi, 2006–11, is Ken Price’s largest sculpture. First exhibited in New York six years ago and later shown in Europe, Bulgogi was returned to the artist in 2008. When Price saw the sculpture again after two years he thought he could make it better. He stripped the paint off and over the next several years carefully re-worked it, completely changing the color, perfecting the form and the surface.

Ken Price’s ambition to make large-scale sculpture dates back at least to the 1960s. Throughout his career he made numerous drawings of sculptures larger than people and that dominate the landscape. It was not until the last five years of his life, however, that he was able to realize a significant body of three-dimensional works in a similar scale. This exhibition, together with two pieces included in the Ken Price retrospective at LACMA that opens simultaneously, marks the first time any of Price’s monumental sculpture will be seen in his native Los Angeles.

Ken Price’s sculptures are known for their carefully worked surfaces, variety of textures, and rich colors, which are always integral to his forms. A lifelong surfer and seminal member of 1960’s Los Angeles art world, Price used industrial lacquers developed for cars and surfboards in his earliest work. In Bulgogi the biomorphic shapes throb with an iridescence that reminds one of sculptures Price exhibited at the Ferus Gallery in the 60s. Despite the similarity, a lifetime of experimenting with these complex finishes has resulted in something completely new.

Ken Price was born in Los Angeles in 1935. His first one-man exhibition was at the Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles, where he had three exhibitions between 1960 and 1964. Matthew Marks Gallery began working with Ken Price in 2002 and organized five exhibitions with him in New York over the next ten years. Ken Price died in Taos, New Mexico in February 2012. The Estate of Ken Price is represented by Matthew Marks Gallery.

Ken Price Bulgogi will be on view from September 12 through October 20, 2012, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. at 1062 North Orange Grove, Los Angeles.

On view concurrently: “Ken Price Sculpture: A Retrospective” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (through January 6, 2012), the first comprehensive exhibition of the artist’s work in twenty years. The show travels to the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (February 9 – May 12, 2013) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (June 18 – September 22, 2013).

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