Infinite Logic Conference
INFINITE LOGIC CONFERENCE
Katharina Grosse
March 27 – June 6, 2004
Curator: Richard Julin
The exhibition Infinite Logic Conference at Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall is the first presentation of the German artist Katharina Grosse in Sweden. Katharina Grosse makes paintings directly on architecture, in rooms and also on canvas. Her exhibition at Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall occupies two of the exhibition halls. She uses a spray gun for her enormous, nonfigurative paintings on walls, floors, and ceilings. Here for the very first time, Grosse has incorporated objects into the exhibition space as part of the work – a bed, books, and clothes constitute a part of her paintings. She has also made canvases up to twelve meters long for the exhibition halls. Her paintings grow patch by patch, almost organically spreading over the surfaces with layers of intense color. The result involves the whole room and gives a feeling of the movement the work necessitates, of how the paint has dripped, run, and been painted over. It is a powerful and unique mode of painting. Few have seen her works in reality as most exist only during the run of the show and are then painted over. Grosse relates her practice to the art historical painting tradition, reminding one not only of American Color Field Painting but also other styles and genres.
Richard Julin, the exhibition curator, states:
While working together, Grosse and I discussed the need for explaining the meaning of abstraction. The title of the exhibition is a commentary on this attempt to understand, or in fact its opposite: allowing the abstract to remain abstract.
About the artist:
Katharina Grosse is one of the most talked-about artists working today. She first gained recognition for her painting in the 1990s. After working in a more traditional brush-on-canvas technique, she has increasingly shifted to using a spray gun and painting large surfaces. Except interior space she has used a large billboard as her canvas in Auckland in 2001, and in 2002 she painted the facade of Birmingham Central Library. Grosses exhibitions include solo shows at the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas, 1999, White Cube, London, 2002 and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, 2002. During the past year, Grosse has participated in group exhibitions at CASO in Osaka and at Kiasma in Helsinki, among others.
Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall is publishing a catalogue that will be available one month after the exhibition opens. The catalogue will document the fascinating process of making the work and how it grew. The catalogue also includes an independent essay by Lars Mikael Raattamaa (b. 1964) for whom photographs of Grosse’s painting nevertheless furnished the point of departure. Raattamaa writes architectural theory and political poetry in a style that combines the journalistic debate article with the essay. He is a well-known name in Swedish contemporary poetry and has published the acclaimed books Helgonlegenderna: väv (Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2000) and Politiskt våld (OEI Editor in collaboration with Modernista, 2003).
For press inquiries please contact:
Tove Schalin at Magasin 3 Stockholm tel + 46 8 545 680 40, fax + 46 545 680 41, e-mail: schalin@magasin3.com
