Gloria Klein, a late New York-based painter known for anxious acrylic arrangements and methodical mathematical systems, is the subject of a new solo exhibition titled "Crisis Management" opening January 9, 2026, at Anat Ebgi New York. The show presents many of her later paintings for the first time, and coincides with the announcement that Anat Ebgi now represents her estate. Klein, born in Brooklyn in 1936, was a queer artist who participated in the feminist publication HERESIES, created portraits of critics Arlene Raven and Lucy Lippard, curated the 1977 exhibition "10 Downtown: 10 Years" at PS1, and was a member of the Criss Cross art cooperative. Despite a recent sale of her work for $30,000 at Frieze Los Angeles in 2023, she remains relatively unknown.
This exhibition matters because it brings renewed attention to an overlooked artist whose work blends hard-edged abstraction, Pattern and Decoration, and systems-art, challenging genre boundaries. Stefano Di Paola, a partner and senior director at Anat Ebgi, attributes Klein's marginalization to her intersectional identity as a queer woman and her genre-defying style. The show highlights her complex creations from the 1980s and 1990s, following earlier presentations of her work at Anat Ebgi Los Angeles and Art Basel Miami Beach. By recovering Klein's legacy from decades of obscurity, the exhibition underscores ongoing efforts to rediscover and elevate historically marginalized artists in the art world.