ALBERT OEHLEN. TERPENTIN 2012

ALBERT OEHLEN (1954-)

The oeuvre of Albert Oehlen (*1954 in Krefeld), which covers a period of more than thirty years, is distinguished by its skeptical questioning of painting as a medium. Yet instead of turning his back on painting, the artist deals with this issue within the medium itself. Beginning with rough, provocative attacks in the eighties and cool, computer-based images in the nineties, and then moving on to overpainted advertising, in his recent, abstract-expressive works Oehlen strives to blend the passion of the painter with a sense of critical distance. This publication features exemplary works from the artist’s various creative periods, so that the dialectic that pervades the entire body of work becomes visible and the distinction between the figurative and the abstract disappears. With subtle gestures yet strict formality, each visual theme coagulates into a pure artifact unto itself.

Edited by Stephan Berg, Kunstmuseum Bonn, texts by Stephan Berg, Christoph Schreier, interview with the artist by John Corbett, graphic design by Jutta Herden

Exhibition schedule: Kunstmuseum Bonn, March 1–June 3, 2012