In a new series of huge four-part aluminum panel paintings, rendered in a simple, striking palette of red, black, and white, Oehlen creates tree-like forms as vehicles for a methodical deflation of content. The tree has been a recurring motif since the 1980s.
Oehlen exuberantly demonstrates a tension between man- and machine-made imagery, while branch-like sprays mitigate any sense of pure abstraction. Open-ended, "unfinished" dialogues between binary oppositions are unsettling yet compelling: in any one work, the paint, the collaged pictures and texts, and patches of white canvas each occupy their own space, like a worktable clutter without a center. The appearance of the surfaces gives way to mesmerizing color-layers of graffiti—a testament
to Oehlen's ability to elevate common genres and materials through rigorous experimentation. Albert Oehlen was born in 1954 in Krefeld, Germany and studied at Hochschule fu¨r Bildende Ku¨nste, Hamburg. From 2000-09 he was a professor of painting at Kunstakademie Du¨sseldorf. His most recent solo exhibition was "Albert Oehlen: Malerei," Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna (2013). Oehlen's work was included in the 2013 Venice Biennale. His work is in museum collections around the world.
