Recognized as one of the leading painters of her generation, California-based artist Mary Weatherford draws influence from modernist formalism, Abstract Expressionism, and Minimalism in her work. Like many abstractionists before her, Weatherford’s compositions are unplanned and spontaneous and she uses sponges to apply paint to her canvases, mostly working on the floor. Weatherford layers her canvases with white gesso and marble dust before applying her signature Flashe paint, a vinyl-based medium that is opaque and color-rich in its original form, but is easily diluted to provide a translucent appearance. In addition to her pioneering usage of Flashe paint, Weatherford also frequently incorporates sculptural elements—most consistently neon tubes—on her canvases. Weatherford sees painting—especially her style of abstraction—as a means to explore and express a sense of self, the sublime, and the indescribable “very absurdity of existence.”
Mary Weatherford earned a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University, where she studied studio art, art history, architecture, and engineering and she earned a Master of Fine Arts from Bard College. She has been the subject of various solo and group exhibitions in the United States and in Europe, including a survey exhibition presented at the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY.
