Philip Martin Gallery is delighted to present, “Gravity,” an online exhibition of new and never-before-seen works-on-paper and paintings by Austrian master Hubert Schmalix (1952-2025) in conversation with those of Los Angeles-based artist Laurie Nye (b. 1972, Memphis, TN). For over five decades, Hubert Schamlix made works of tremendous grace, looking to imagination and memory to reach heights of expression. Laurie Nye orients her pieces around interiority and intuition, exploring places both real and unreal to find deeper layers of experience.
The work of Austrian-born Hubert Schmalix first became known in the early 1980’s as part of what was commonly described as the Neue Wilde (New Wild). Discussed in terms of painting with a capital ’P,’ Schmalix’s paintings were seen as an energized, expressive reaction to the dry, intellectual art climate of the late 1970’s that had decided painting was totally obsolete. Schmalix moved to Los Angeles from Austria by way of the Philippines in 1987; in Southern California, he pursued painting’s big questions and classic themes: landscapes, nudes and still life.
Hubert Schmalix’s works are not just pictures; they are also an investigation into how paintings are made. At the same time, they are an investigation into the practice of painting itself. “My work can be interpreted in many ways, of course. And that’s a good thing,” he once commented, going on to point out that, “I simply try to let the picture develop by itself, not to aim for a direct goal, but to work constantly while detaching gravity.” Hubert Schmalix’s work is defined by vibrant colors, simplified forms, and a distinctive visual language all coming together in bold, color-rich compositions that immerse the viewer in layered, painterly worlds.
The paintings of Laurie Nye depict Los Angeles and Tennessee - the two places she calls home - as well as a range of real and mythic places. “I use my intuitive process and combine it with memory and ideas about nature and landscape,” Nye writes. “I grew up camping and fishing in the Ozarks in Arkansas. My father instilled in me a reverence of stillness and oneness with the water. It wasn’t boring to sit in a boat for hours, learning to cast a line and catching only guppies or twigs. It was everything else that mattered. The sounds of the birds, the animals all around, the mysterious dark of the water and how it sounded when we floated along with the motor off.” In her work, Nye encourages the viewer’s sense of landscape, not only in terms of specific locales, but also in terms of what these locales mean with regard to personal expression and freedom. “I love the idea of fictional places, fabled places, memories and experiences of real places all mixed together in a non-linear way - playing with the notion of what landscape painting could be or should be.”
Hubert SCHMALIX (1952-2025) was a pillar in the Los Angeles art community. His 2025 solo exhibition at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA) was heralded. Schmalix exhibited in Austria regularly with solo shows at Smolka Contemporary (2024, Vienna, Austria) and Schlossmuseum Linz (2024, Linz, Austria). Important exhibitions featuring Schmalix’s work include Venice Biennale (1993, Venice Italy); Foundation Cartier (1986, Paris, France); “An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture” (1984, Museum of Modern Art, New York); and Biennale Sydney (1984, Sydney, Australia). Other recent solo museum exhibitions include Schlossmuseum Linz (2024, Linz, Austria) and Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum. Graz (2023, Graz, Austria). Schmalix’s work has been featured in solo and group shows at Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY); Museum Moderner Kunst (Vienna, Austria); Kunsthaus Bregenz (Bregenz, Austria); Schlossmuseum Linz (Linz, Austria); Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum (Graz, Austria); Museum der Moderne (Salzburg, Austria); Sammlung Essl, (Vienna, Austria); Kunstmuseum Winterthur (Winterthur, Switzerland); Folkwang Museum (Essen, Germany); Kunstverein München (Munich, Germany); Sammlung Grothe (Duisburg, Germany); Bundeskunsthalle Bonn (Bonn, Germany); Mannheimer Kunstverein (Mannheim, Germany); Österreichisches Kulturinstitut (Paris, France); Galleria d’Arte Moderna (Bologna, Italy); Museo di Roma-Palazzo Braschi (Rome, Italy); Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon, Portugal); Fundación la Caixa (Madrid, Spain); Kunsthalle Budapest (Budapest, Hungary). Museum collections include Neue Galerie Graz - Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz; Österreichische Galerie, Belvedere, Vienna; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna; Sammlung Essl; Albertina Modern, Vienna; Museum der Moderne Salzburg Rupertinum; Kunsthaus Bregenz; Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz; Herbert Liaunig, Privatstiftung, Neuhaus; Museum Angerlehner, Upper Austria; Sammlung Krinzinger, Vienna; Kunstmuseum Bern. Hubert Schmalix was born in 1952 in Graz, Austria. He died in 2025 in Los Angeles.
Laurie NYE (b. 1972, Memphis, TN) received her BFA from the Memphis College of Art (Memphis, TN), and her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts (Valencia, CA). In September 2026, Laurie Nye’s work will be featured in a solo show at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA) with additional group shows at Haverkampf Leistenschneider (Berlin, Germany) and Rachel Uffner Gallery (New York, NY). Laurie Nye’s work has appeared in such solo and group exhibtions as “A Particular Kind of Heaven,” Parrasch Heijnen (Los Angeles, CA); “The Moth & The Thunderclap,” Modern Art (London, UK); “Encounter,” Rachel Uffner Gallery (New York, NY); “BodyLand,” Galerie Max Hetzler (Berlin, Germany); “Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes,” Acquavella (New York, NY); Van Doren Waxter (New York, NY); Bark Berlin Gallery (Berlin, Germany); The Pit (Glendale, CA); Odd Ark (Los Angeles, CA); Big Pictures LA (Los Angeles, CA); Blake and Vargas, (Berlin, Germany); The Dot Project, (London, UK); Day and Night Gallery (Atlanta, GA); La Loma Projects, (Pasadena, CA); and Unpaved Gallery (Yucca Valley, CA). Laurie Nye’s artist project, “Chickasaw Moon,” at Odd Ark (Los Angeles, CA) was an Artforum Critic’s Pick. Laurie Nye’s solo exhibition at Philip Martin Gallery was Artforum Best of Year 2021 feature. Nye has work in the OZ Art Northwest Arkansas, (Bentonville, AR) collection. Her work has been reviewed in such publications as Artillery, Los Angeles Times, Artforum, FAD Magazine and LA Weekly. Laurie Nye lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
The exhibition “Hubert Schamlix | Laurie Nye: Gravity” is online June 11 - June 25, 2025. The works can be viewed at Philip Martin Gallery by appointment.
Philip Martin Gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday 11-5 and Tuesdays by appointment. The gallery is located at 3342 Verdugo Road, Los Angeles CA 90065. For additional images and information please call 323-507-2037 or email info@philipmartingallery.com.
