ALBERT OEHLEN ON THE DEATH OF PAINTING

ALBERT OEHLEN ON THE DEATH OF PAINTING

Dec 15, 2016

exhibitions

Untitled, 1994. Silkscreen and acrylic on canvas. Albert Oehlen

 

Albert Oehlen, Rhineland 1954. He began his training at the Fine Arts High School of Hamburg, later received knowledge on advertising and this boosted his artistic career. He began in the 80's in a generation of artists as well known as Martin Kippenberger or Werner Büttner. This group of nonconformists did not conceal their disagreement with the dominant ideology of their time. As for his work, it is necessary to emphasize his beginnings within the abstract expressionism in the "Neue Wilde", works of great size with a marked tone of social criticism.

 

 

Untitled (Head of idiot) 1988. Oil on canvas. Albert Oehlen

 

 

The main theme of the artist is artistic freedom. This force is reflected in his work with the incorporation of new techniques that wink at the past and generate a new sensation, which articulates a discourse both different and familiar. With his work, Oehlen brings his little bit of sand to the debate that arose at the end of the 20th century on the death of painting. His response, continue to paint, is his means of expression and protest.

 

 

Untitled (Tree 1) 2013. Oil on Dibond. Albert Oehlen

 

 

The exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, curated by Petra Joos, explores the extent to which we are able to see beyond the artist's work. One of the characteristics of this display is the diversity between the different stages of the exhibition, just as Oehlen's work is disparate and familiar in equal parts. The common nucleus unites them and complements them articulating an anthological discourse of the artist.

 

 

He making pottery, 2012. Oil on canvas. Albert Oehlen

 

 

The exhibition, "Albert Oehlen: Behind the Picture" shows the whole essence of this genius recognized by all as a celebrated postwar artist, exhibits its pictorial complexity. The exhibition does not pretend to be a retrospective but a declaration of intentions that you can enjoy until February 5, 2017. The parts, "Self-portraits", "Paintings by computer", "Abstract paintings" and "Trees" are completed with a series Of activities that reveal all the internal keys of the exhibition.

 

 

 

Share this article

We recommend

12 nov. 2019

THE “GOLD RUSH”, BY SEBASTIÃO SALGADO

7 nov. 2019

WHAT IS “NOCHE FOUND!”: REAL ART AND PERFORMANCE FOR EVERYBODY

5 nov. 2019

ESTHER FERRER: THE WOMAN OF ALL THE PERFORMANCES

31 oct. 2019

GETTING READY FOR THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD... WITH ART

THE “GOLD RUSH”, BY SEBASTIÃO SALGADO

Nov 12, 2019

exhibitions

The CEART opens this Thursday, November 14th in the room A an exhibition dedicated to this master of photography, which will be open to the public until February 9th. The show includes one of the artist's latest projects, focused on the hard work carried out by the miners of Serra Pelada, an open gold mine in the heart of Brazil where employees daily risked their lives.

Immigration, poverty, marginal life, slave labour, man's relationship with the land, the use of natural resources... are issues that have always fascinated Salgado. From the beginning of his career as a photographer, his work has opted to give visibility to the most disadvantaged groups and to create with his images a vivid and impressive visual story without fakes. With a raw black and white, this author's work transits between photo-reportage and naturalistic photography.

And the idea that permeates all his work is human dignity. Salgado portrays employees, miners and gatherers from a purely humanistic approach that wants to value their integrity, their strength and their resilience.

“If you photograph a human, so that he is not represented in a noble way, there is no reason to take the picture. That is my way of seeing things.”

Salgado entered this discipline long after completing his studies in economics between Brazil and the United States, and a doctorate in statistics in France. But in 1973 his life took a turn, and he decided to start his career as a photographer. He achieved to work at the Gamma Agency and Magnum Photos for more than 15 years until in 1994 he founded his own agency “Amazonas Imagen”.

With the “Gold” project, the photographer portrays a harsh reality that takes place in the Serra Pelada mine, a name given to a totally devastated and anarchically excavated mining enclave, the world's largest open-pit gold mine, through which more than 50,000 people have passed. In the heat of the legends about the mysterious “El Dorado”, the enthusiasm for this precious metal led to the development of strenuous exploitation practices for the workers and to originate tales of grief and glory, of human victory and defeat between the soil, the tunnels and the cargo baskets.

The CEART exhibition brings together Salgado's full portfolio in his characteristical black and white and large-format photographs that leave no one indifferent.

 

Share this article