White Room: David Mramor
Rainbow Lilies Gangrene Blues

October 30–December 18, 2021
A painting on a white wall combines two unstretched canvases layered on top of one another. The smaller canvas on the top right depicts organic patterns and blended iconography. The back canvas depicts dark painted strokes with brown and white outlines over a taupe background.

David Mramor, installation view, 2021.

Gallery view of paintings on stretched canvas hung on adjacent walls. The paintings tie in elements of organic patterns, biotic shapes, and bodily details. On the floor of the right-side wall, a pair of white, newspaper stuffed paper-mache boots are encased in plexi.

David Mramor, installation view, 2021.

Four paintings installed on a freestanding gallery wall. To the left, a painting details phallic patterns over a church focused landscape and pornographic scenery. To the right, two paintings themed around America present a bald eagle, the words USA, and the American flag. Centered on the right, a painting featuring a snake illustrates brick wall, anal beads, and country landscaping over a print of suggesting bodies. White boots displayed in plexi can be seen centered on the floor.

David Mramor, installation view, 2021.

A pair of white, paper mache heeled-boots, with red glitter soles are presented on a mirrored rectangle inside of plexi encasing. The shoes have newspaper and tulle burgeoning from the collar’s.

David Mramor, installation view, 2021.

Gallery view of paintings exhibited on parallel walls and a painting affixed to a back facing, street view window. In front of the window, two sculptures are displayed on tripods positioned several feet apart.

David Mramor, installation view, 2021.

The verso side of Holy Sunflowers, 2021 is secured to a window seen opposite of a street view. The painting portrays sunflowers with cut out shapes illustrating the absence of their pistils. Natural landscape patterns outline the flowers and envelope the faded brick background of the canvas.

David Mramor, installation view, 2021.

White Rhino, 2021 is displayed to the right of Holy Sunflowers, 2021.

David Mramor, installation view, 2021.

Layered with glitter, Gay Green, 2021 presents a green bust supported by a painted tripod. The bust wears a brunette mustache and blonde wig.

David Mramor, installation view, 2021.

A landscape painted over a faded print of an interior space and two bodies as a snake smiles in the center of the frame. A pattern of bricks closes off the remaining space of the image to the right. On the left, a church is outlined by large anal beads and patterns of biological shapes.

David Mramor, Lake Blood, 2021.

Press Release

White Columns is pleased to present Rainbow Lilies Gangrene Blues, a solo exhibition of new paintings by the New York-based artist David Mramor. The exhibition takes its title from and is organized on the occasion of Mramor’s new publication, Rainbow Lilies Gangrene Blues, published by Dasmundt this year. Curated by the artist Jeanette Mundt, who is also the book’s publisher, this is the first exhibition to bring together all of the different but related facets of Mramor’s capacious artistic practice, including painting, performance, music, writing and film. Mramor’s work, in all its varying forms, explores the construction of memory and identity. In addition to the presentation in the gallery, there will be a reading and conversation to launch the new publication, a screening of a collaborative film, and a performance by Enid Ellen.

Rainbow Lilies Gangrene Blues is an illustrated memoir written over the past ten years. The book weaves together true and fictionalized stories of Mramor’s life with images of his artworks, archival photos and lyrics from Enid Ellen songs. An online book launch, with reading from the publication and a conversation between Mramor and Mundt, will take place over Zoom on Tuesday, November 9th at 5pm.

On display in the gallery is a series of Mramor’s recent works that are collaged, printed and painted onto unstretched linen and mannequin forms. In these works personal and found imagery coalesce, merging family photographs, artworks, internet porn, nature films, and music videos with depictions of snakes, flowers, leaves, teeth, anal beads, phalluses, bricks and text. Mramor’s references are varied and disparate, drawn from personal associations and lived experiences. Plucked from Mramor’s past performances, a blonde wig and painted platform boots stuffed with newspaper and tulle appear in the gallery as a prelude to the upcoming performance.

The film AISSUR is loosely based on Swan Lake, and was made in collaboration with Mundt and Mariangela Ciccarello. AISSUR will screen on Wednesday, November 17th at 7pm at The Center in the West Village. This event is being presented in collaboration with Company Gallery.

Enid Ellen, Mramor’s ongoing performance and music project, was born out of private performances from Mramor’s childhood that first took place in his mother’s closet, that later developed in the tradition of drag. A performance by Enid Ellen will be co-hosted by White Columns and Howl! Happening at Howl’s 6 E. 1st Street location in Manhattan on Wednesday, December 15th at 7pm.

David Mramor lives and works in New York City. He received a BFA from Ohio University in 2006 and a MFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2008. Mramor was a SIP Fellow at the Robert Blackburn Printshop (2019). Mramor has exhibited and performed extensively throughout New York City including presentations at Fierman, 47 Canal, CANADA, P·P·O·W, Whitney Museum and The Kitchen. Mramor has also performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen in Düsseldorf, and Ludwig Museum in Cologne. Mramor is a member of the two-person band Enid Ellen with singer and songwriter Greg Potter. Released albums include Cannibal Disease (2010) and Beyond Reality (FemmeKraft, 2018).

Copies of Rainbow Lilies Gangrene Blues (Dasmundt, 2021) are available for purchase at the gallery and on our website.

For more information about Dasmundt: https://www.dasmundt.com/

 

Forthcoming events

Registration details are forthcoming where not listed.

Online book launch with reading and conversation with David Mramor and Jeanette Mundt will be presented live on Zoom on Tuesday, November 9th at 5pm.

REGISTER HERE

Evening film screening of AISSUR on Wednesday, November 17th, 7pm at The Center, 208 W. 13 Street.

Performance by Enid Ellen on Wednesday, December 15th, 7pm at Howl! Happening, 6 East 1st Street.

For further information: info@whitecolumns.org

Checklist

Events

Virtual Book Launch ‘Rainbow Lilies Gangrene Blues’ by David Mramor

White Columns is pleased to present a virtual book launch for David Mramor‘s Rainbow Lilies Gangrene Blues (Dasmundt, 2021.)

Please join us for a reading by the author, followed by a conversation between Mramor and Jeannette Mundt, the book’s publisher and curator of Mramor’s current exhibition at White Columns.

November 9, 2021

‘GAY GREEN’ Performance by David Mramor

White Columns is pleased to present ‘Gay Green’ a performance featuring Enid Ellen, artist David Mramor‘s ongoing persona and musical project. Enid was born out of private performances from Mramor’s childhood, which first took place in their mother’s closet, eventually with her as their audience. Following his mother’s death, Mramor continued performing drag often with the makeup and clothing she left behind, discovering a way to recreate the freeing and compassionate space that his mother provided in his youth. The performance pays homage to cinema, fashion, nature, and gay icons, with nostalgic nods to Mramor’s personal history and the history of drag.

Footage courtesy of Howl! Happening.

December 15, 2021

Publication

David Mramor: Rainbow Lilies Gangrene Blues, 2021

A painting on a white wall combines two unstretched canvases layered on top of one another. The smaller canvas on the top right depicts organic patterns and blended iconography. The back canvas depicts dark painted strokes with brown and white outlines over a taupe background.
Gallery view of paintings on stretched canvas hung on adjacent walls. The paintings tie in elements of organic patterns, biotic shapes, and bodily details. On the floor of the right-side wall, a pair of white, newspaper stuffed paper-mache boots are encased in plexi.
Four paintings installed on a freestanding gallery wall. To the left, a painting details phallic patterns over a church focused landscape and pornographic scenery. To the right, two paintings themed around America present a bald eagle, the words USA, and the American flag. Centered on the right, a painting featuring a snake illustrates brick wall, anal beads, and country landscaping over a print of suggesting bodies. White boots displayed in plexi can be seen centered on the floor.
A pair of white, paper mache heeled-boots, with red glitter soles are presented on a mirrored rectangle inside of plexi encasing. The shoes have newspaper and tulle burgeoning from the collar’s.
Gallery view of paintings exhibited on parallel walls and a painting affixed to a back facing, street view window. In front of the window, two sculptures are displayed on tripods positioned several feet apart.
The verso side of Holy Sunflowers, 2021 is secured to a window seen opposite of a street view. The painting portrays sunflowers with cut out shapes illustrating the absence of their pistils. Natural landscape patterns outline the flowers and envelope the faded brick background of the canvas.
White Rhino, 2021 is displayed to the right of Holy Sunflowers, 2021.
Layered with glitter, Gay Green, 2021 presents a green bust supported by a painted tripod. The bust wears a brunette mustache and blonde wig.
A landscape painted over a faded print of an interior space and two bodies as a snake smiles in the center of the frame. A pattern of bricks closes off the remaining space of the image to the right. On the left, a church is outlined by large anal beads and patterns of biological shapes.

David Mramor, Danny and Pedro, 2021. Oil, acrylic, inkjet, and grommets on linen in two parts, two elements: 85 × 44.25 in and 43.75 × 30 in (A painting on a white wall combines two unstretched canvases layered on top of one another. The smaller canvas on the top right depicts organic patterns and blended iconography. The back canvas depicts dark painted strokes with brown and white outlines over a taupe background.)

David Mramor, Installation View, 2021. (Gallery view of paintings on stretched canvas hung on adjacent walls. The paintings tie in elements of organic patterns, biotic shapes, and bodily details. On the floor of the right-side wall, a pair of white, newspaper stuffed paper-mache boots are encased in plexi.)

David Mramor, Installation View, 2021. (Four paintings installed on a freestanding gallery wall. To the left, a painting details phallic patterns over a church focused landscape and pornographic scenery. To the right, two paintings themed around America present a bald eagle, the words USA, and the American flag. Centered on the right, a painting featuring a snake illustrates brick wall, anal beads, and country landscaping over a print of suggesting bodies. White boots displayed in plexi can be seen centered on the floor.)

David Mramor, Installation View, 2021. (A pair of white, paper mache heeled-boots, with red glitter soles are presented on a mirrored rectangle inside of plexi encasing. The shoes have newspaper and tulle burgeoning from the collar’s.)

David Mramor, Installation View, 2021. (Gallery view of paintings exhibited on parallel walls and a painting affixed to a back facing, street view window. In front of the window, two sculptures are displayed on tripods positioned several feet apart.)

David Mramor, Installation View, 2021. (The verso side of Holy Sunflowers, 2021 is secured to a window seen opposite of a street view. The painting portrays sunflowers with cut out shapes illustrating the absence of their pistils. Natural landscape patterns outline the flowers and envelope the faded brick background of the canvas.)

David Mramor, Installation View, 2021. (White Rhino, 2021 is displayed to the right of Holy Sunflowers, 2021.)

David Mramor, Detail View, 2021 (Layered with glitter, Gay Green, 2021. presents a green bust supported by a painted tripod. The bust wears a brunette mustache and blonde wig.)

David Mramor, Lake Blood, 2021 Oil, inkjet, and grommets on linen, 23.25 × 39.25 in (A landscape painted over a faded print of an interior space and two bodies as a snake smiles in the center of the frame. A pattern of bricks closes off the remaining space of the image to the right. On the left, a church is outlined by large anal beads and patterns of biological shapes.)