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Lot Essay
“Movements that have been painted first and last are both simultaneously present on the image field. There is no linear or causal hierarchy of activities in a painting…it requires a mind that is agile and ready to give up an adopted point of view at any moment for the next potential constellation or reading. Everything can become anything at any minute.” – Katharina Grosse
Katharina Grosse’s paintings blur the line between reality and imagination, and have led her to become descried as a “philosophical graffiti artist” (M. Yeung, Wallpaper, London, July 2018). Using vibrant acrylic spray paints, Grosse creates abstract and distinctive sculptures, paintings and installations. Untitled, painted in 2013, exemplifies her techniques using various vibrant colors and unique stencils to create a mesmerizing composition. Here, Grosse creates beautiful layers of yellow, orange, red, purple, deep blue and green, forgoing the traditional use of a paint brush by applying paint with a commercial spray gun. The bright yellow shoots across the top of the painting and emphasizes the white shapes she has created with her irregularly cut foam and cardboard stencils. She coats the surface with many effects, including pronounced drips, cloud-like fields and air brushed strokes. The resulting forms allow the colours to blend and fit together. Even though Untitled is a two-dimensional painting, it appears multidimensional because of its’ many overlapping fluorescent rays of color.
Katharina Grosse grew up in Germany and attended the arts academy Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. For over a decade she taught at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee before returning to Kunstakademie Düsseldorf as a professor from 2010 to 2018. Her love of the arts was prevalent even as a child. She developed a keen interest in how light and colour interact with each other and with philosophical ideas. Her iconic juxtaposition of different colors and values, as seen in Untitled, facilitate a conversation between the viewer and the work. Her unique style is influenced by a variety of different sources including performance, process and installation art, graffiti, and Impressionism. Untitled is a perfect representation of her innovative approach to color, texture, and composition.
Katharina Grosse’s paintings blur the line between reality and imagination, and have led her to become descried as a “philosophical graffiti artist” (M. Yeung, Wallpaper, London, July 2018). Using vibrant acrylic spray paints, Grosse creates abstract and distinctive sculptures, paintings and installations. Untitled, painted in 2013, exemplifies her techniques using various vibrant colors and unique stencils to create a mesmerizing composition. Here, Grosse creates beautiful layers of yellow, orange, red, purple, deep blue and green, forgoing the traditional use of a paint brush by applying paint with a commercial spray gun. The bright yellow shoots across the top of the painting and emphasizes the white shapes she has created with her irregularly cut foam and cardboard stencils. She coats the surface with many effects, including pronounced drips, cloud-like fields and air brushed strokes. The resulting forms allow the colours to blend and fit together. Even though Untitled is a two-dimensional painting, it appears multidimensional because of its’ many overlapping fluorescent rays of color.
Katharina Grosse grew up in Germany and attended the arts academy Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. For over a decade she taught at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee before returning to Kunstakademie Düsseldorf as a professor from 2010 to 2018. Her love of the arts was prevalent even as a child. She developed a keen interest in how light and colour interact with each other and with philosophical ideas. Her iconic juxtaposition of different colors and values, as seen in Untitled, facilitate a conversation between the viewer and the work. Her unique style is influenced by a variety of different sources including performance, process and installation art, graffiti, and Impressionism. Untitled is a perfect representation of her innovative approach to color, texture, and composition.