Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
New strategies in painting: A personal survey of Albert Oehlen s art
Freedom for me means playing. It does not mean to be in a void and make crazy moves, it means to play with your own rules. Albert Oehlen
The paintings of Albert Oehlen (born 1954) live by audacious strategies, the subversion of his own rules, and by the painterly beauty of their abstract, open forms. This new, revelatory, and self-curated survey concentrates on Oehlen s paintings from the past 30 years. Well-known works are presented together with seldom-seen pieces to survey Oehlen s practice and his themes. In two lengthy conversations with John Corbett and Alexander Klar, Oehlen talks us through his career and ponders the challenge of facing the empty canvas anew each morning. Excerpts from contemporary texts are joined by key writings by critics and curators over the span of the artist s career to provide a historical perspective to his oeuvre.
Together this oral and visual record explores Oehlen s trajectory from the abstract paintings he made at the end of the 1980s, to his first use of pixelated images, which he produced on one of the first personal computers, and modified by hand. We encounter Oehlen s series with a restricted palette of gray tonalities; his collaged fragments of garish poster ads on canvases, transforming screaming slogans into abstract elements; his finger paintings; and his recent series of tree paintings in which black, vaguely treelike silhouettes contort themselves into a lexicon of abstract forms. Throughout, Oehlen transforms the conceptual into the compositional, at once invigorating and challenging the viewer with fresh ways of thinking about painting.
Text in English, French, and German"
Synopsis
New Strategies in Painting
A complete survey of Albert Oehlen's art
The paintings of Albert Oehlen live by audacious strategies, by questioning the image and the rules of abstraction, and by an openness and beauty often reached through the unlikeliest of means.
In this expansive monograph, we meet the full range of Oehlen's artistic thoughts and approaches paintings that integrate mirrors, paintings that are executed strictly in primary colors or only in gray, heavily pixelated paintings produced with the help of one of the first personal computers. We find collaged fragments of garish poster ads on canvases that transforming screaming slogans into abstract elements, charcoal drawings the size of a wall, finger paintings, and paintings in which black treelike silhouettes contort themselves into a lexicon of abstract forms. Throughout, Oehlen transforms the conceptual into the compositional, at once invigorating and challenging the viewer.
Revising and updating TASCHEN's previous Collector's Edition, this revelatory survey explores Oehlen's trajectory from his early days up to the present. It features more than 400 paintings as well as insightful commentaries and interviews, covering Oehlen's different work stages and approaches. Roberto Ohrt's essay takes us back to the special vibe of the early 1980s where Oehlen worked alongside Kippenberger, Buttner, and others, part of a scene that painted quickly and close to the pulse of time. Oehlen discusses his computer paintings with John Corbett, and follows up on his more recent work, his thoughts on art, and his day in the studio in a lengthy conversation with Alexander Klar. A collection of shorter texts and quotes from the artist bring us close to the ideas of an artist who has been dubbed "the most resourceful abstract painter alive."
"Freedom for me means playing. It does not mean to be in a void and make crazy moves, it means to play with your own rules."
-- Albert Oehlen
Text in English, French, and German
Synopsis
The paintings of Albert Oehlen live by audacious strategies, by questioning the image and the rules of abstraction, and by an openness and beauty often reached through the unlikeliest of means. In this expansive monograph, we meet the full range of Oehlen's artistic thoughts and approaches: paintings that integrate mirrors, paintings that are executed strictly in primary colors or only in gray, heavily pixelated paintings produced with the help of one of the first personal computers. We find collaged fragments of garish poster ads on canvases that transforming screaming slogans into abstract elements, charcoal drawings the size of a wall, finger paintings, and paintings in which black treelike silhouettes contort themselves into a lexicon of abstract forms. Throughout, Oehlen transforms the conceptual into the compositional, at once invigorating and challenging the viewer. Revising and updating TASCHEN's previous Collector's Edition, this revelatory survey explores Oehlen's trajectory from his early days up to the present. It features more than 400 paintings as well as insightful commentaries and interviews, covering Oehlen's different work stages and approaches. Roberto Ohrt's essay takes us back to the special vibe of the early 1980s where Oehlen worked alongside Kippenberger, B ttner, and others, part of a scene that painted quickly and close to the pulse of time. Oehlen discusses his computer paintings with John Corbett, and follows up on his more recent work, his thoughts on art, and his day in the studio in a lengthy conversation with Alexander Klar. Together with a collection of shorter texts and statements, this brings us close to the ideas of an artist who has been dubbed "the most resourceful abstract painter alive."