Eric Freeman, "Beach Lane," 2004. Oil on linen. 72 x 72 inches
This exhibition marks the first major institutional solo presentation of Eric Freeman’s work in the East End, where the artist lived and worked for many years. Freeman’s radiant abstractions transform color into planes of light and pigment that construct space rather than merely depict it. Layers of luminous varnish and saturated tone generate a visual depth that feels structural—at times almost architectural—drawing viewers into fields of color defined by both intensity and calm.
The exhibition brings together a selection of paintings alongside a small group of furniture pieces designed by Freeman, revealing a practice shaped by the productive tension between control and emotion, precision and presence. His work enters into quiet dialogue with the legacies of Josef Albers, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, Mark Rothko, and James Turrell. Freeman’s subtly modulated surfaces, sleek yet unmistakably hand-painted, balance intellectual rigor with sensory immediacy, collapsing distinctions between painting, object, and environment.
Presented following the artist’s death in 2021, the exhibition honors Freeman’s sustained contribution to contemporary abstraction and affirms his lasting connection to the East End’s artistic landscape, where his work quietly expanded the possibilities of color, light, and spatial experience.
This exhibition is co-curated by artist Nathan Dillworth and Melanie Crader, museum director and curator of visual arts with support from Philippa Content, museum manager and registrar and Claire Hunter, museum coordinator and curatorial associate.
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Eric Freeman
Eric Freeman (1970 – 2021) was born in Brooklyn, New York and after receiving a B.F.A from Tuffts University, he split his time between Sagaponack and New York City. He exhibited nationally and internationally with solo exhibitions at Mary Boone Gallery, NYC, Stefan Stux Gallery, NYC, Glenn Horowitz Booksellers Gallery, East Hampton, NY, Western Project, Culver City, NY, Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland and Gallery 56, Budapest, Hungary. His work is included in the collections of Guild Hall, the Parrish Art Museum, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland, and Saatchi Gallery, London.
Photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Sponsors
Visual Arts programs are supported by lead funding from Lucio and Joan Noto, with additional support provided by Barbara and Richard S. Lane, The Michael Lynne Museum Endowment, The Melville Straus Family Endowment, The Giuppy Nantista Fund, and The Hoie Fund.
Additional support provided by Friends of the Museum: Shari and Jeff Aronson, The Artist Profile Archive, William L. Bernhard, Elizabeth Gordon and Woody Heller, The Hayden Family Foundation, Robert Longo and Sophie Chahinian, Elin and Michael Nierenberg, Onna House, Lori and John Reinsberg, Jeff and Audrey Spiegel, Hillary and Jeff Suchman, Jane Wesman and Don Savelson, and Yurman Family Foundation.