Mark Grotjahn's Dual 2016 Exhibitions: Captain America at Gagosian and Sign Exchange at Karma

Two concurrent exhibitions in New York showcased different phases of Mark Grotjahn's career. At Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue, ten drawings titled "Untitled (Captain America)" were displayed from January 19 to February 20, 2016. These works employed red, white, and blue color schemes inspired by the comic book character, blending motifs from Grotjahn's established "Butterfly" and "Face" painting series. The drawings feature radial bands converging at a central point, overlaid with faint yellow eye shapes. Simultaneously, Karma Gallery on Great Jones Street presented "Sign Exchange 1993-98" from January 8 to February 7, 2016. This project originated when Grotjahn, fresh from UC Berkeley, replicated and traded liquor store signs from his neighborhood, creating an archive of original advertisements. The exhibition included these signs alongside pastel-painted flower stands. Grotjahn's "Head" sculptures, initially made from discarded materials, were shown at the Nasher Museum in Dallas in 2014, coinciding with a survey of his "Butterfly" paintings at Blum + Poe's Upper East Side location. The artist's work has been exhibited extensively in museums and galleries over the preceding three years, including a show at Anton Kern Gallery just months prior. The Gagosian presentation was noted as conceptually thin compared to the relational aesthetics of the Karma project.