Katharina Grosse

In the early nineties Katharina Grosse painted a series in oil, which drew all attention to the unruly interplay between the various passages of color. At first glance, the paint would seem to have been applied spontaneously. It is only on closer examination that the methodical horizontally and vertically overlapping brushstrokes clearly emerge. The manner in which the paint has been applied becomes evident, lending dramatic effect to all the deviations, resulting in a feeling that the color fields are pushing into and against each other. In this painting, for example yellow and blue assert themselves against an ostensibly dominant beige. The painting appears to be bursting the work’s boundaries. The artist nevertheless succeeds in directing the viewer's attention to an effect that applies to painting in general, namely that the picture plane and the painting surface never quite coincide, because painting virtually enlarges the surface through expansive color effects.