KATHARINA GROSSE
Katharina Grosse was born in 1961 in Freiburg, Germany. After studying at the Münster Academy of Arts, she studied under Gotthard Graubner at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts, and in 1990 acquired the Meisterschuler. Since the late 1990s, she has been using industrial paint-sprayer to create paintings composed solely of prismatic swaths of color, where space and color appear to be in harmonious unity with one another. Grosse received significant acclaim for her large-scale installation presented in 2015 at the 56th Venice Biennale. Throughout her career, she has presented mammoth installations and outdoor works that defy conventional concepts of “painting” in art museums and art projects around the world. The exhibition, Mural: Jackson Pollock | Katharina Grosse held in 2019 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (US), attracted much attention as a project that served to evaluate her as a pioneer of contemporary painterly expression along with the master of abstract expressionism. Stating that, “Anything can become a painting” and “Color is very important to me because it directly evokes resonance,” Grosse continues to produce and present large-scale works that appear to have been painted and left behind by giants, while continuing to update the expressions of her works on canvas and paper. Grosse currently lives and works in Berlin (Germany) and New Zealand.
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Title: untitled
Year: 2013
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 200 x 130.3 cm (78 3/4 x 51 1/4 in.) -
Title: Untitled
Year: 2022
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 201 x 155 cm (79 1/8 x 61 in.) -
Title: o.T.
Year: 2013
Medium: acrylic on aluminium and linen
Dimensions: 72 x 80 x 144 cm (28 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 56 3/4 in.) -
Title: Untitled
Year: 2003
Medium: Acrylic on linen
Dimensions: 200.7 x 132.1 cm (79 x 52 in.) -
Title: Untitled
Year: 1995
Medium: Oil on aluminum
Dimensions: 50.2 x 33 cm (19 3/4 x 13 in.)
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untitled
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Year: 2013Grosse is attempting to transcend painting that exists in space beyond its two-dimensionality. After Lucio Fontana incorporated a dimension that expands into the depths of cracks and Frank Stella liberated painting from the rectangular shape, artists have experimented with various mediums in today’s world where painting no longer solely depends on the surface as the support. The use of aerosol became popular after its introduction in 1970s street culture, but Jules Olitski, known for his Color Field paintings, and Yayoi Kusama, who lived in New York around the same time, had already been using spray guns in their paintings in the 1960s. The act of “spraying” color onto objects has thus been incorporated as a painting medium. In some of Grosse’s works, the dual relationship that emerges by spraying color is visualized. By placing an object that shields the surface from the spattered color, the artist presents absences of color, in other words, she demonstrates an intaglio-like approach to her painting practice. This tendency is evident in this work, where the viewers can imagine the process of gradually shifting the position of something like a paper pattern while spraying color on top. The very areas that were “not colored” in each layer give a “painting-like” quality to elements such as image, shape, and composition. After all, from this perspective, it can even be said that the vivid colors which appear to form the essence of this work, represent negative space within the painting. Grosse overcomes illusionism through this experiment by flipping the positive and negative within the relationship between the figure and the ground in painting. It aligns with Gross’s root of thinking, where she develops her paintings on a spatial scale that does not adhere to two-dimensionality.
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 200 x 130.3 cm (78 3/4 x 51 1/4 in.)
Acquired from Christie’s, 2023
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Untitled
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Year: 2022Works created by spray guns can now be described as Grosse’s signature style. In this work, the artist places an ivy-like object on the canvas and then sprays it with colors. Like stencils or cyanotypes, the act of directly leaving traces of objects that have touched the painting surface is also supported by Grosse's previous works. By intensely spraying colors onto architecture and into spaces, Grosse's paintings have extended from a flat medium-like canvas into three-dimensional space. It has realized a physical immersion of the painting space for both the artist and the viewers. Grosse describes that painting is a screen between the viewers and the artist, where both parties can show their thoughts to each other. Painting serves as an interface for contemplation. Following this concept, the idea of painting as a screen does not necessarily have to be restricted by conventional paintings. Grosse chooses a new technique and form that is more suitable for the interaction between the artist and the viewers. In this work, the most assertive line elements in the composition are acquired through leaving traces, an almost non-painterly method. The misty colors create a vivid gradation by the angle and intensity of the spray. At the same time, the shadows of the lines are imprinted on the canvas. When those lines were torn away from the canvas, the paints were also torn off which then revealed as lively traces. This is different from painted lines. In the past, paintings were something that aimed to capture light widely in layers of paint. However, Grosse has left vivid shadows as traces in this work. Grosse stated that painting is a mutual exchange of thoughts. With that in mind, with the traces left in this work, what do we see and what thoughts should we share in return?
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 201 x 155 cm (79 1/8 x 61 in.)
Acquired from Gagosian, 2022
Past Exhibitions
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- 2023 Art Collaboration Kyoto
https://a-c-k.jp/
- 2023 Art Collaboration Kyoto
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o.T.
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Year: 2013Grosse liberates colors and paintings from the canvas, and presents large-scale paintings in three dimensions, which are also exhibited outdoors. “Colors” suddenly emerge besides buildings such as Museum Kunstpalast (Düsseldorf) and the Bonn Museum, giving the impression as if her works have been placed there by some giant. This work, created by applying acrylic paint to an aluminum surface, can be described as a “painted sculpture of color.” The vivid three-dimensional painting with its highly pronounced edges, serves to transform the space.
Medium: Acrylic on aluminium and linen
Dimensions: 72 x 80 x 144 cm (28 3/8 x 31 1/2 x 56 3/4 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022
Past Exhibitions
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- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
https://a-c-k.jp/
- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
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Untitled
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Year: 2003Equipped with an industrial paint-sprayer as her artistic tool of choice, Grosse revolutionized painting by defying the conventional concept of painting—which was a male-dominant medium—through means of “color” itself. Using her signature paint-sprayer, she creates a multi-layered and delicate expression that emphasizes the physical presence of paint (color) by rivulets of dripping pigment running down the length of the support. It is a painting that remarkably highlights characteristics of Katharina Grosse's Abstract Expressionist style.
Medium: Acrylic on linen
Dimensions: 200.7 x 132.1 cm (79 x 52 in.)
Acquired from PHILLIPS, 2022
Past Exhibitions
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- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
https://a-c-k.jp/
- 2022 Art Collaboration Kyoto
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untitled
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Year: 1995The vivid contrast of red and green immediately catches the eye. Oil paint was applied over the aluminum to create a multi-dimensional depth. The red paint beneath the green, along with the dark paint beneath it interfere with each other, forming a complex composition. Through this sense of materiality, “color” itself becomes the painting. This artwork liberates the “color” from the context of painting, expressing the essence of color. While this is a straightforward piece, it differs in charm from Grosse’s large works in that acrylic paint is sprayed with a spray gun, offering a fresh perspective with a richness of colors.
Medium: oil on aluminum
Dimensions: 50.2 x 33 cm (19 3/4 x 13 in.)
Acquired from Christie’s, 2022