Günther Förg

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Private Collection, Berlin

Exh. Cat., Berlin, Galerie Max Hetzler, Günther Förg: Bilder/Paintings 1973-1990, March 2004, pp. 60-61, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. This work is comprised of six separate panels. There is light wear along the edges and at the corners of each panel. Panels 2, 3, 6: Under Ultraviolet light inspection there is evidence of scattered faint surface dust but there is no evidence of restoration. Panel 1: Under close inspection there are faint surface scuffs at the lower left edge, approximately 35 inches from the bottom left corner, which fluoresce faintly under Ultraviolet light inspection but are not the result of restoration. Under Ultraviolet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration Panel 4: Under Ultraviolet light inspection scattered pinpoint pigment fluoresces faintly but is not the result of restoration. Under Ultraviolet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. Panel 5: Under close inspection there is evidence of some faint, hairline scattered surface scuffs in the lower right edge, which fluoresce under Ultraviolet light inspection but are not the result of restoration. Under Ultraviolet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. Unframed.
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Utterly impressive in scale, Günther Förg's Untitled from 1990 conjures an awe-inspiring presence through its monumental six-paneled format and electric color palette. Building upon the conceptual underpinnings established by forerunners like Gerhard Richter and Blinky Palermo, Förg’s career demonstrates his relentless pursuit of the legacy of the modernist aesthetic in the context of a postmodern age. Most importantly, Förg’s work explores a paradoxical confrontation between the detached aesthetic of Minimalism and the grandiose painterly concerns of Abstract Expressionism. Standing between these two art historical pillars, Förg’s work is Minimalist in its flat areas of geometric color yet unlike the austere industrialism inherent in Minimalist technique, Förg does not abandon the trace of the artist's hand, as witnessed through visible painterly brushstrokes in the present work. Förg therefore shatters the status quo by synthesizing diverging artistic practices, as eloquently summarized by his statement: “If you take a Judd box, no way can it be painted by a Baselitz. I want to refute this kind of attitude. It's not mixing it exactly, but finding the freedom to synthesise things” (the artist in “Talking Painting: Interview with David Ryan,” 1997).

Executed in 1990, the present work follows Förg’s critically acclaimed Lead Paintings, which first appeared in the mid seventies. Painted atop unprimed lead, this series of paintings proved a catalyst through which Förg cultivated a fiercely independent practice based on the materiality of pigment in its most raw and untreated state. Having worked with lead material for over a decade, Förg then gravitated in the early 90s toward a critical new handling of color informed by the unique interaction of paint with unprimed metal as gleaned from his Lead works. Painted on raw cotton duck, the present work reveals Förg’s emphasis on the density, weight, and brushy surface texture of acrylic applied with vigorous brushwork in layers of varying opacity.

The six vertical panels in Untitled portray a formal narrative of shape and color. It is easy to become lost amidst the vast geometric design that spans over sixteen feet wide. This all-encompassing experiential nature perhaps borrows from Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko who famously said that his paintings should be viewed from a distance of 18 inches. Förg’s painting dominates the viewer’s field of vision and thus creates a feeling of contemplation and transcendence that is central to the artist’s practice. The progression of the eye jumps across balanced yet energetic horizontal and vertical fields of contrasting saturation. Förg’s simple compositional formula fuels a rhythmic clash between three rich hues: the expansive enigma of an infinite deep blue, the refreshing turquoise, and the heat of a fiery cadmium red. With the dispersion of these elemental colors the artist evokes the design-considered purism of Piet Mondrian and De Stijl. The dispersion of color into space and sense of architectural statement recalls Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, yet our ability to absorb the spiritually enveloping capacities of the work are compromised by Förg’s rational insistence on raw materiality. In the captivating grandeur of the present work, the purity of color and form are laid bare for us as a visual puzzle that epitomizes the very best of Förg’s artistic synergies.