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Vincent van Gogh, amongst other plein air artists – those who painted landscapes while outdoors – pioneered a pictorial nomadism of the landscape they sought to capture. Later Impressionist artists moved beyond this nomadism, dissolving the horizon and blurring the landscape, eliminating the contrasts of light and shadow that defined the form. Irene Grau’s work similarly reconceives landscape through the possibilities and experimentation presented by monochrome painting (the use of only one color).

One of the earliest examples of monochrome painting was developed by a group of witty artists called Les Incohérents in Paris during the late 19th century. The monochrome was born as a conceptual joke, precisely to belittle the work, in the form of graphic criticism. These artists used monochrome painting to create an ambivalent relationship between language and landscape, a conceptualization that influences Grau’s work.

Irene Grau’s incohérent walk, seeks to reevaluate, once again, the landscape genre, exploring the idea of displacement, a core concept in her artistic practice. Incohérent walk transforms our thinking and speaks of painting and landscape as a way of seeing.

AEIVA

Maus Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery and space dedicated to supporting creativity with a focus on experimental as well as issue-driven work. Through representing emerging, established, and internationally recognized artists, the gallery is committed to bringing a global perspective to contemporary issues and practices across the Visual Arts. The program consists of exhibitions, printed publications, and media outreach.

A rigorous gallery exhibition program, focusing on ten to twelve week long exhibitions, has become a staple of curatorial excellence in the South of the US, and the gallery has received critical attention from the press, including Art Forum and Art in America. The exhibition Mark Flood: FACEBOOK FARM was selected as one of three finalists for the AICA-USA Award for Excellence in Art Criticism and Curatorial Achievement in the category "Best show in a commercial space nationally outside of New York".
The gallery's mission is to offer a platform for experimentation in a culturally difficult environment through four to six gallery exhibitions a year in addition to curated projects and exhibitions abroad.

Maus Contemporary has released over a dozen publications so far, most recently monographs on gallery artists Leslie Smith III and Spanish artist Irene Grau, and is currently working on monographs of Catherine Tafur and Melissa Vandenberg.

Irene Grau: Incohérent Walk