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Moss Galleries Presents Beate Wheeler’s Abstract Rhythms: 1960s on 10th Street opens June 13 at Moss Galleries, Falmouth

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June xxx, 2025

 

Moss Galleries Presents Beate Wheeler’s Abstract Rhythms: 1960s on 10th Street opens June 13 at Moss Galleries, Falmouth

 

(Falmouth, ME) Moss Galleries is proud to announce, Beate Wheeler’s Abstract Rhythms: 1960s on 10th Street a vibrant retrospective of the expressionistic color painter Beate Wheeler (1932–2017), on view June 13 through August 9, at the Falmouth gallery.

A painter of melodic, lyrical abstraction, Wheeler’s work from the 1960s through the 1990s radiates with teeming color and emotional vitality. Though long overlooked by the mainstream art market, Wheeler was deeply embedded in the avant-garde circles of her era, sharing creative space with titans of 20th-century American art.

“Beate Wheeler’s work feels like a revelation—vivid, emotionally charged, and visually expansive,” said Elizabeth Moss, owner and director of Moss Galleries. “She represents the best of what Abstract Expressionism could offer: freedom, depth, and deeply personal innovation. We’re honored to bring her work into the light where it belongs.”

Born in Berlin, Wheeler fled Nazi Germany with her family in 1938 and went on to study at Syracuse University and the University of California, Berkeley, where she came under the influence of Milton Resnick. In New York, she became a founding member of the influential March Gallery along with Pat Passlof, Elaine de Kooning, and Robert Beauchamp. She was part of the Tenth Street cooperative scene that included Lois Dodd, Lynne Drexler, and Alex Katz. Despite being immersed in this heady world of experimentation and exchange, Wheeler remained committed to a uniquely introspective practice.

The effortless melding of colors in Wheeler’s paintings—evocative of seamless choral harmonies, natural beats, inner melodies of the mind, and intuition—earned her praise at the National Arts Club, Downing Street Gallery, and beyond. Nelson Rockefeller collected her work, and ARTnews dubbed her an “artists’ artist.” Wheeler lived for decades at the Westbeth Artists Housing in New York’s West Village with her husband, the writer Spencer Holst.

With paintings that shift from dense fields of deep, saturated color to lighter, more impressionistic strokes in the 1970s, Wheeler’s canvases reveal a deft command of color theory and composition. Her works were spontaneous in spirit, yet crafted with a precision that reflects both formal training and fearless intuition.

Beate Wheeler’s Abstract Rhythms: 1960s on 10th Street is on view June 13 through August 9 at Moss Galleries in Falmouth. For more information, visit www.elizabethmossgalleries.com

Image credit: Beate Wheeler, Untitled, 1960s, Oil on canvas, 36 x 40 in. Copyright © Beate Wheeler Estate.

High-resolution images are available HERE.


About Moss Galleries
Moss Galleries stands as a cornerstone of Maine’s vibrant art scene. Led by certified art advisor Elizabeth Moss, the gallery offers 20 years of expertise in contemporary and established art markets. Recognized among Blouin ArtInfo’s 500 Best Galleries in North America, it is a premier destination for collectors and curators. Visit Falmouth and Portland, Maine. Visit Moss Galleries at www.elizabethmossgalleries.com


Moss Galleries
Falmouth Gallery:
251 US-1
Falmouth, ME 04105
207-781-2620
liz@elizabethmossgalleries.com
www.elizabethmossgalleries.com

Portland Gallery:
100 Fore Street
Portland, ME 04101

For media inquiries, please contact: 
Kristen Levesque
Kristen Levesque PR & Marketing
kristen@kristenlevesquepr.com
207-329-3090 
 

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January 17, 2017
Globalocation: Celebrating 20 Years of Artnauts
J. Willard Marriott Library
The University of Utah, 01/17/2017

The University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library will host the art exhibition Globalocation: Celebrating 20 Years of Artnauts, Jan. 20-March 3.

Artnauts, an art collective formed 20 years ago by George Rivera, professor of art and art history at the University of Colorado, Boulder, consists of 300 global artists who serve as goodwill ambassadors, acknowledging and supporting victims of oppression worldwide. Their creativity has generated over 230 exhibitions across five continents. Five faculty members from the U’s Department of Art and Art History are members of the collective, Sandy Brunvand, Beth Krensky, V. Kim Martinez, Brian Snapp and Xi Zhang.

Globalocation derives from “Globalocational Art” — a concept used by the Artnauts to refer to their exhibitions in international venues. It is the mission of the Artnauts to take art to places of contention, and this anniversary exhibition is a sample of places where they have been and themes they have addressed.

“The Artnauts could not exist without the commitment of the artists in the collective to a common vision of the transformative power of art,” said Rivera. “The Artnauts make their contribution with art that hopefully generates a dialogue with an international community on subjects that are sometimes difficult to raise.”

Krensky, associate department chair of the Art and Art History Department, had the opportunity to travel with Rivera in Chile as part of an Artnauts project, working with mothers who were searching for their children who had mysteriously disappeared during a time of political unrest.

“When I travelled to Chile in 1998, George and I spent an afternoon with the Mothers of the Disappeared, and the meeting changed my life,” said Krensky. “It was from that moment on that I placed a picture of them on my desk to look at every day. I was so moved by what they each had lost — a son, a brother, a father — and yet what remained for them was a deep, deep well of love. They were fierce warriors and stood up to the government to demand the whereabouts and information of the people who had disappeared, but they lived within profound love.”

The 20th anniversary exhibition at the Marriott Library is a retrospective of the traveling works the Artnauts have toured around the globe. The exhibition will be located on level three of the library. The opening reception is open to the public and will be held on Friday, Jan 20, 4-6 p.m. Rivera will speak at 4 p.m.

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