Press release
Galerie Michael Werner, Märkisch Wilmersdorf is pleased to announce an exhibition of paintings by the artist A.R. Penck (b. 1939). Between Light and Shadow will present sixteen paintings made between 2010 and 2011.
A.R. Penck‘s recent works feature subjects set in motion. They perform almost restlessly: whether stick-man, eagle, spin top or arrow, they imply progress, circulation. The busy impression of these mostly-colorful paintings is characterized by an endless driving force. The paintings bear witness to the locomotion and drive of humankind. The artist denies the viewer a fixed focal point: the eye permanently looks for an anchor, drifting around the landscape which is spun by symbols the artist has worked with since the 1960s. It is with these symbols that he elaborates a system that weighs the position of man in the world, his position in society, in civilization, in war and peace, in capitalism as well as communism, in love, death, freedom and in captivity.
The new works are titled systematically: paintings like Crises, Problem, Uncertainty or The Unknown are confronted with works suggesting clarity and determination, like Rational Attempt, Perspective, Purpose, Access and Key. Further works are titled System – Awakening, Weight – Counterweight or Between Light and Shadow. These works follow, intellectually and painterly, a procedure which has occupied the artist‘s mind since 1989, evidenced in his abstract Der Vergleich als Methode der Bildforschung (Comparison as method of image research). The current presentation at Galerie Michael Werner bears witness to A.R. Penck’s constant search for the position of man within its self-created system. The show strengthens the everlasting universality of the Neo-Expressionist’s art which is inherent in the artist’s words too: “The arrow of time, it is flying without any halt”, A.R. Penck writes in a poem from 2014 that accompanies the exhibition catalogue.
A.R. Penck has been the subject of numerous major exhibitions worldwide: Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin (1988), Haags Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag (1989), Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (1991), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1995), Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico-City (1996), Setagaya Art Museum, Tokio (1997), Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2007), Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2008), Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2010/2011).
The exhibition opens at Galerie Michael Werner in Märkisch Wilmersdorf 20 April 2015 and remains on view through 30 May 2015. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10am to 5pm. Booking in advance is recommended by phone +49 (0)33731 32010 or email galeriewerner@michaelwerner.de.
The exhibition is accompanied by a full-color catalogue.
