Mark Grotjahn and the exhibition arc from Los Angeles to East Hampton
Published on 08/31/2026 at 12:20 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Mark Grotjahn’s paintings and works on paper frame a distinctive position between abstraction, geometry and masked faces. His recent presence in the Los Angeles group exhibition Tom’s Stretch and the ongoing East Hampton show Builders situates that practice across US gallery contexts.
Summer group shows and exhibition reach
The Los Angeles exhibition Tom’s Stretch at David Kordansky Gallery ran from July 10 to August 22, 2026 and brought together more than seventy artists around the imagery and legacy of Tom of Finland, with Mark Grotjahn listed among the contributors in the gallery announcement. The MutualArt artist overview similarly records Tom’s Stretch as a current exhibition for Grotjahn, noting the Los Angeles run from July 10 to August 22, 2026 as part of his 2026 activity.
Parallel to the Los Angeles program, the data platform MutualArt lists Mark Grotjahn as part of the group exhibition Builders at Halsey McKay Gallery in East Hampton, running from July 25 to October 31, 2026, extending his visibility into the Hamptons summer season. Against this backdrop, his work circulates in two different curatorial frames, one anchored in queer image histories and one focused on construction and process.
Exhibition & show focus for Monday
In the curatorial concept for Tom’s Stretch, the David Kordansky team spans more than eighty years of artworks responding to Tom of Finland’s visual language, from drawing and painting to sculpture and photography, aligning Grotjahn with a broader examination of erotic figuration and coded imagery. The East Hampton show Builders, as summarized in the MutualArt listing, positions a range of contemporary artists in relation to making, assembling and structural thinking, which resonates with the constructed geometries of Grotjahn’s well-known Butterfly and Face paintings.
Earlier in the summer, Gagosian’s Basel exhibition Selections at Rheinsprung 1 paired paintings by Mark Grotjahn with postwar work by Helen Frankenthaler during the Art Basel week in June, underlining how his canvases function within cross-generational painting dialogues. This Basel presentation closed on June 21, 2026, but it complements the current US group shows by demonstrating how Grotjahn’s work is positioned in high-profile fair-adjacent contexts.
Mark Grotjahn exhibitions and market background
Further reporting on Mark Grotjahn’s exhibitions, auction results and collection presence is available in the AD HOC NEWS archive for readers who want to follow his trajectory over time.
The work core and key groups
Mark Grotjahn is widely known for his large-format Butterfly paintings, where radiating lines and color wedges converge toward multiple vanishing points to create dense optical fields that both recall and unsettle classic perspective systems. Parallel to this geometric body of work, his Face paintings introduce mask-like visages built from stacked bands of color and gestural marks, bringing a more expressionist and psychologically charged register into his practice.
Beyond painting, Grotjahn produces works on paper such as the 1999 graphite and colored pencil piece Monique, currently offered in Sotheby’s online Arcade New York sale with an estimate of 5,000 to 7,000 dollars, showing how his drawing practice connects to more intimate formats. His market history, as summarized by MutualArt’s statistics for August 2025 to July 2026, includes 15 lots sold across eight auction houses with total sales of around 5 million dollars, placing key canvases in the mid to upper seven-figure range.
Where the artist stands now
At the moment, Mark Grotjahn’s work remains on view in the group exhibition Builders at Halsey McKay Gallery in East Hampton, which is scheduled to run through October 31, 2026 according to the MutualArt exhibition listing.
Key facts on Mark Grotjahn
- Artist: Mark Grotjahn
- Medium / Genre: Painting (abstract and hybrid figuration)
- Born: 1968, Pasadena, USA
- Place(s) of practice: Studio in Los Angeles
- Active since: early 1990s, with wider institutional visibility from the 2000s
- Key work groups: Butterfly, Face, Perspective drawings, Landscape paintings
- Current/last exhibition: Builders, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, July 25 to October 31, 2026
- Major collections: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC); Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles); Broad collection (Los Angeles); other US and European private collections
- Awards: publicly visible career anchored more in market and institutional recognition than in major prize circuits
- Next date: Builders, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, on view until October 31, 2026
Frequently asked questions about Mark Grotjahn
Where can Mark Grotjahn’s work be seen in mid-2026?
In summer and fall 2026, Mark Grotjahn’s work is documented as part of the group exhibition Builders at Halsey McKay Gallery in East Hampton, running from July 25 to October 31, 2026 in the MutualArt listings.
What recent group show featured Mark Grotjahn in Los Angeles?
David Kordansky Gallery’s exhibition Tom’s Stretch in Los Angeles included Mark Grotjahn among more than seventy artists engaging with Tom of Finland’s imagery, on view from July 10 to August 22, 2026 according to the gallery’s announcement and coverage.
How active has Mark Grotjahn been at auction in the last year?
MutualArt’s sales summary for August 2025 to July 2026 lists 15 lots by Mark Grotjahn sold across eight auction houses in two countries, with a total of about 5 million dollars, including several paintings in the mid to upper seven-figure tier.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
