Mary Heilmann uses abstract painting and ceramics to create works imbued with recollections, stories, and cultural references.
Her paintings are like meditations or icons, with expert and sometimes surprising treatments of paint that complement a keen sense of color inspired by the hues and light of popular culture. Mary received a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MA from the University of California, Berkeley. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and Orange County Museum of Art, among others. Her awards include the Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation Award and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. She has had major exhibitions at Whitechapel Gallery, London; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Kunst Museum Bonn, Germany; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; and Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach. Presently, she lives and works in New York and Bridgehampton. In June 2022, Primary Information published a facsimile edition of her highly revered 1999 memoir-monograph, *The All Night Movie*. In November 2022, Dia Art Foundation will honor Mary Heilmann at their annual fall gala in New York City.