Katharina Grosse uncouples painting from material reality in every way. Void of composition, her painting is solely determined by colors. She even goes one step further and overcomes the color application as part of the painter’s craft. In 1998 the spray gun became Katharina Grosse’s preferred work tool, as it enabled her to pursue a path to entirely new means of expression. ”Spraying allows for an access determined by immediate vision, while painting with a brush is strongly determined by physical movement. The motion of the eyes and the motion of the spray gun are much closer connected.“ (Katharina Grosse, quote from ex. cat. Inside the Speaker, Foundation Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, 2015, p. 87) Colors flow, splash, waft – forming a lively and pulsating entity.
The individually applied superimposing layers of paint create a sort of pattern. The colors, ranging from canary yellow and azure to a bilious green and an orange-red, are sprayed on layer by layer, while the added metallic colors make for an an iridescent effect. Stencils protect previously applied colors from the following spray process so that clearly defined color fields come into existence. These fields, in return, form collage-like blotches of colors with crusty upended margins and a haptic effect. The dissociation of painting from the classic image carriers, as well as the exploration of space are characteristic of many her works. What is so special about the work offered here lies in the intentional integration of the white background of the canvas which underlines the color formation’s stencil pattern – it curbs the color field, enframes it and creates the space necessary to unfold its full effect. Color structures sprawl across the canvas, breaking its bounds and exploring the image space. Apart from space the artist also employs time as a pictorial category. Time is stretched and slowed down through the extensive production time caused by the elaborate stencil system which requires longer drying phases. This way Katharina Grosse makes the concept of time as part of the creation tangible. Upon observing her pictures the colors spring into action and open up infinite spaces of time in which we can lose ourselves in order to discover ever new details. We explore the image space by letting our gaze wander and by allowing Katharina Grosse’s oscillating color worlds to put us under their spell. [SM]