- 18
Tauba Auerbach
Description
- Tauba Auerbach
- Untitled
- signed and dated 2010 on the overlap
- acrylic on canvas
- 152.4 by 114.3 cm. 60 by 45 in.
Provenance
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2010
Catalogue Note
To create these hypnotic, illusionary networks of creases Auerbach meticulously crumples, contorts and folds canvas into precisely chosen, yet chaotic shapes. To preserve these wrinkled forms the artist irons or places weights onto the canvas, and leaves the creases to settle and sink in over several days. The purposefully folded canvas is then gently spread on the floor and sprayed directionally with acrylic paint to emphasise and mimic the tonal patterns of light falling on a creased surface. Once dry, the canvas is then pulled taught over the stretcher leaving behind a sculptural impression of folds: a three dimensional object on an utterly flat surface. This intriguing and constructed interplay between light and shadow takes centre stage in Untitled as ripples of hazy colour pulsate and radiate, springing up from the canvas surface as though a majestic mountain range. As the artist explains, “this is my take on trompe-l'oeil or traditional realist painting, one that relies on strategy rather than virtuosity” (Tauba Auerbach cited in: Exh. Cat., Bergen, Bergen Kunsthall (and travelling), Folds: Tauba Auerbach, 2012, p. 105).