In a moment when painting and sculpture in their most traditional form are no longer displaying the appeal they did some time ago, Mary Heilmann – the “painter’s painter” as critics have described her – is going against the grain and successfully attracting attention by painting large coloured canvases that pay homage to the abstract and minimalist tradition while drawing ironically on her own personal everyday world. “To be someone” at the New Museum (until 26 January, 2009) is her first New York retrospective that, along with her paintings, includes ceramics, sculpture, fabrics and furniture created over her 40-year career. E.S.