Mary heilmann surfing on acid painting

By the time painter Mary Heilmann finished taking questions from her audience at the Carpenter Center on Feb. 22, students felt comfortable enough to approach the podium and discuss a wide array of topics, all the way to the songs she had selected for her presentation.

Heilmann—standing beneath projections of paintings inspired by California’s beaches, “The Simpsons,” and an album cover by The Drifters—did her part to demystify the world of postmodern art for those who asked.

Speaking about her personal experiences during the psychedelic 1970’s as well as her evolution from minimalism to a postmodern version of abstract expressionism, Heilmann emphasized her connection to both high and low culture.

“I started out as a sort of a primary structure, minimal type of artist, and as the years went along, I started to be much more free with my gesture and with my hand,” she said.

“In some of the work that I am doing now, the gesture Surfing on Acid - Frieze WEP