Frankfurt am Main, 2014
Artist: Lena Grewenig
Type: Painting, Unique and Original
Material & Size: Oil and Acrylics on Linen and Wool, 13 cm x 18 cm
Description:
Self-evident features of the painting are examined in an ironic game of the use of materials.
The artists states: "The colours that I applied to linen and cotton seem to have been made by chance. Here I am formally interested in the interplay between the painterly effect, broken up by concrete motifs. On the one hand I use classic linen for my pictures, but on the other hand I am also interested in using found materials. Sometimes these are just old sheets that I use to wash out my brushes.
This cleaning of the brushes becomes the motif of my pictures. This fact I like, because it reports the location where I work and also documents my approach. So there is something in it that is similar to traces. Of course, I always breakthrough this arbitrariness with something concrete. Simply through the composition or through specific motifs that have a story or play a specific role for me and thus a language is evoked.
As a result, arbitrariness and precision begin to interact with one another. Because the stains from my brushes become part of my picture, I reveal the technical means of painting. With this approach, I try to approach the medium of painting in an ironic way. Maybe also to get a closer look at the medium of painting and its characteristics.
In this ambiguous uses of my materials, I like the irony and humour relating to the idea of the romanticized act of painters.
Namely, by actually showing openly how my work is done, but without disclosing what is arbitrary and concrete, I am trying to build a mirage of perception, which automatically should find its climax in the picture."