Back
Mary Lovelace O’Neal’s latest exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) showcases her enduring exploration of materials and color, as well as the evolving dynamics between abstraction and figuration over the past six decades. Known for her distinctive use of lampblack pigment—a soot produced from burning oil—O’Neal employs this medium to add depth to surfaces, and since the 1960s, it has served as an expression of Blackness. At 82, O’Neal continues to experiment with these elements in new pieces featured in the exhibition, open until October 20.
O’Neal first encountered lampblack pigment during an undergraduate artist residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Reflecting on the experience, she describes summer as a time of artistic frustration without any significant breakthroughs. Exhausted and disheartened, she stumbled upon the sculpture barns, intrigued by a "bubbling black pot" of wax. This discovery led to her conversation with the artist, who generously gave her bags of the black material that would later become central to her work.
Initially working with charcoal and pastels on canvases built by her ex-husband, O’Neal pondered the theoretical debate about flatness in painting. She recalls the first moment she applied the lampblack to a white canvas using a chalkboard eraser, leading to further experimentation. Embedding the black pigment directly into the canvas fibers, she achieved a profound flatness and a unique material presence.
For O’Neal, her use of lampblack and other materials transcends flatness, creating spaces that invite exploration. She emphasizes how her lines and marks define space, sometimes obstructing it with grids that resist penetration. These elements, she believes, establish their own spatial narrative and speak to the necessity of resistance and personal expression.
Many of O’Neal's works integrate non-traditional humanoid figures within the rich tapestry of her compositions. The figurative aspects speak to a visual world filled with color and defined by unique moments, particularly the serene, dark moments just before dawn. Amid these explorations, O’Neal describes how elements in her paintings create immersive black spaces that envelop and cradle the observer.
O’Neal's approach to curating her SFMOMA show was instinctive and freeform. Without academic or professional obligations, she embraced a spontaneous method, inspired by her husband's promise to build her a studio in Merida, Mexico. The beauty and warmth of the new studio ignited her creativity, even as she adapted to physical limitations. With reduced mobility, her engagement with the artistic process remains vigorous and unrestricted.
Mary Lovelace O’Neal’s work at SFMOMA is not merely an exhibition but a testament to her lifelong dedication to artistic innovation and expression, boldly facing the intersection of material study and personal narrative.
