Katharina Grosse

Divided into three rectangular fields, the painting is dominated by broad brushstrokes. The two lower sections have been painted vertically with a large brush, the upper one horizontally. The manner of the paint’s application to the canvas lends it the appearance of having been done by a painter and decorator. The dynamic brushstrokes pull the color fields in differing directions. The colors themselves are, in addition, unstable in the sense of inconsistent coverage, since the underpainting remains visible, seemingly calling the overpainting’s effectiveness into question. Red has been overlayed by yellow in the orange section of the painting, while the red background also makes itself evident through the ostensibly green area of the image. The pink of the painting’s upper section consists of white applied over red. The artist employs simple strategies in focusing on the relations between color and form. Her approach raises awareness of painting as an application of brushstrokes, but also as an interconnection between under and overpainting.