Katharina Grosse

In certain paintings, the masked area is larger than the area that has been painted, so that the balance of what constitutes painting shifts in favor of the periphery. On the other hand, the interconnections between the painted form and the "empty" periphery are multiple. Both drip marks and clouds of spray bleed into the background, so that the painting leads almost beyond what has been painted. The colors have been applied decisively: green next to light blue over red, orange, yellow, and magenta. The artist has faith in the power of color, since color immediately creates a resonance before we are aware of it, just as a singing voice reaches us before we grasp the lyrics of the song. Color in Katharina Grosse's work is independent of location and can appear anywhere. By apparently permitting colors to move freely and interweaving them in differing ways, she is able to break with familiar interrelationships. She takes us beyond established terrain, countering expectations regarding content and disrupting cherished assumptions.