TAL R: The Elephant behind the Clown

New pictures

The artist, who was born in Tel Aviv in 1967 and now lives in Copenhagen, has become famous for his naively painted abstractions, in which some viewers have liked to locate visual goulash or simply celebrate the long-dead values of artistic expression and its autonomy. In addition to a simple abstraction of figurative signs, the strong colours used in a strictly selected palette stood out in particular. The paintings impressed with their calculated and colourful radiance. For some time now, TAL R has been changing the figuration in his paintings, leading their abstraction back into a stylised and standardised form, which could be described as a state one step before the actual abstraction; the ornamental element also clearly recedes. This move towards the classical is supported by a complete departure from previous techniques. Instead of impasto oil paint, a mixture of rabbit glue and pigments is now used directly on unprimed canvas, so that the surface is dominated by a fresco-like tone.

Exhibition:
Kunstverein in Hamburg, 09/04 - 13/06/2011