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拍品專文
We are most grateful to Mr. Michael Neff from the Estate of Gunther Forg for the information he has kindly provided.
Displaying the artist’s long-standing interest in the exploration of color, abstraction and form, Günther Förg’s Fasade II from 1987 is a stunning example the artist’s continuing dialogue with Modern abstraction. Monumental in scale and emblazoned in cardinal red, Fasade II is a triumphant painting spanning nearly five feet in height and width, with thick, saturated blocks of canary yellow alternate evenly over the canvas announcing its presence. Exuding a handpainted quality, Fasade II announces a certain literalness to the pure subject of painterly composition. This seemingly objective method is what distinguishes Förg from those before him and from his own contemporaries.
Förg once stated that “fundamentally as soon as we engage with painting, we have the same problems that faced those at the beginning of the century or even before; problems around color, form and composition” (G. Förg, interview with D. Ryan, Talking Painting, Karlsruhe 1997, reproduced at https://www.david-ryan.co.uk/Günther0Förg.html). Executing his paintings with a keen awareness of this history, Förg undoubtedly references modern masters such as Newman, Ad Reindhart and Mark Rothko in his own creative process. However, Förg transforms this discussion by consciously removing the “spiritual” or “Romantic” sentiment often found in his Modernist forefathers’ work. Concerned with the basic tenants of abstraction—color and form—Förg explores basic geometric shape and pattern in Fasade II to activate a certain objectivity. It is the artist’s ability to integrate seemingly disparate forms of art into a singular, unified practice. The emphasis lies in the process, a process which has allowed Förg to subtract the romantic, emotional sentiment of previous abstract painters, despite the inescapable weight of art history. Without the ephemeral hints of an otherworldly dimension, Förg conceives a style of painting which champions the painting itself, the objective fact of painting and its presence within our physical world.
Fasade II also holds an inextricable relationship with the other aspects of Förg's artistic practice. Concerned with the basic tenants of abstraction—color and form—the artist eschews traditional mediums for new materials to activate a certain objectivity; an objectivity which is also sought after in his photographs. It is the artist's ability to integrate seemingly disparate forms of art into a singular, unified practice, much in the same way he utilizes many panels to create one, consummate work of art in Fasade II. The emphasis lies in the process, a process which has allowed Förg to subtract the romantic, emotional sentiment of previous abstract painters, despite the inescapable weight of art history. As the artist as elaborated; “I think if we take a broader perspective we could say that, fundamentally as soon as we engage with painting, we have the same problems that faced those at the beginning of the century or even before; problems around color, form, composition” (G. Förg, interview with D. Ryan, Talking Painting, Karlsruhe 1997, reproduced at https://www.david-ryan.co.uk/gunther0forg.html). From his diverse material and mediums, the artist offers more than a critique of Modernist practices or allusions to art history in Fasade II, Förg offers a meditation on the subjective, perceived in an objective manner.
Displaying the artist’s long-standing interest in the exploration of color, abstraction and form, Günther Förg’s Fasade II from 1987 is a stunning example the artist’s continuing dialogue with Modern abstraction. Monumental in scale and emblazoned in cardinal red, Fasade II is a triumphant painting spanning nearly five feet in height and width, with thick, saturated blocks of canary yellow alternate evenly over the canvas announcing its presence. Exuding a handpainted quality, Fasade II announces a certain literalness to the pure subject of painterly composition. This seemingly objective method is what distinguishes Förg from those before him and from his own contemporaries.
Förg once stated that “fundamentally as soon as we engage with painting, we have the same problems that faced those at the beginning of the century or even before; problems around color, form and composition” (G. Förg, interview with D. Ryan, Talking Painting, Karlsruhe 1997, reproduced at https://www.david-ryan.co.uk/Günther0Förg.html). Executing his paintings with a keen awareness of this history, Förg undoubtedly references modern masters such as Newman, Ad Reindhart and Mark Rothko in his own creative process. However, Förg transforms this discussion by consciously removing the “spiritual” or “Romantic” sentiment often found in his Modernist forefathers’ work. Concerned with the basic tenants of abstraction—color and form—Förg explores basic geometric shape and pattern in Fasade II to activate a certain objectivity. It is the artist’s ability to integrate seemingly disparate forms of art into a singular, unified practice. The emphasis lies in the process, a process which has allowed Förg to subtract the romantic, emotional sentiment of previous abstract painters, despite the inescapable weight of art history. Without the ephemeral hints of an otherworldly dimension, Förg conceives a style of painting which champions the painting itself, the objective fact of painting and its presence within our physical world.
Fasade II also holds an inextricable relationship with the other aspects of Förg's artistic practice. Concerned with the basic tenants of abstraction—color and form—the artist eschews traditional mediums for new materials to activate a certain objectivity; an objectivity which is also sought after in his photographs. It is the artist's ability to integrate seemingly disparate forms of art into a singular, unified practice, much in the same way he utilizes many panels to create one, consummate work of art in Fasade II. The emphasis lies in the process, a process which has allowed Förg to subtract the romantic, emotional sentiment of previous abstract painters, despite the inescapable weight of art history. As the artist as elaborated; “I think if we take a broader perspective we could say that, fundamentally as soon as we engage with painting, we have the same problems that faced those at the beginning of the century or even before; problems around color, form, composition” (G. Förg, interview with D. Ryan, Talking Painting, Karlsruhe 1997, reproduced at https://www.david-ryan.co.uk/gunther0forg.html). From his diverse material and mediums, the artist offers more than a critique of Modernist practices or allusions to art history in Fasade II, Förg offers a meditation on the subjective, perceived in an objective manner.