Lot 425 R

“The colour-space bodies are wall objects. They start off with “raw”, yet unpainted picture carriers: the canvas, mounted on a stretcher made from wood or metal, covers an even layer of wadding, which varies according to the size and which can be as thick as 20cm. A second canvas is mounted on this in such a way that it pads out the edges leaving them rounded off and without creases. In contrast to the mildly rounded central area, a slight flattening occurs towards the edges due to the taut covering. The artist lays the untreated “workpiece” on the floor and saturates, coats, pours, sprinkles and rubs in thinned paint in circular movements layer for layer using long-handle wide brushes while moving around the work-piece. The arm and body rhythms are inscribed in the picture in looping shapes while the liquid paint seeps in and dries on the inside without deforming the wadding, which is steeped in pigments. On the edges, which later define the dimension of depth of the vertically hung picture, the colour may, as is typical of Gotthard Graubner's works, trickle out in fine traces, irregularly encrusted in circles, unless, here too, he carefully rubs it in, erasing the memory of the creative process. Depending on the format, at least 20 litres of paint are applied successively, saturating the wadding through the canvas, dying it, hidden from view, an irregular process, as occasional deliberate jolts influence the paint seeping through. The painting process on the floor is interrupted by pauses in which the unfinished painting is put in an upright position in order to reappraise the stage reached for the attained effect. This can lead to an entire change of colours, to a sort of new beginning, or to a concentration on the chosen path. Even where the exercise or commission correlates with certain conceptual ideals, Gotthard Graubner seems to grant himself the maximum degree of freedom until that certain radiance responds to which there is nothing more to add”. (Katharina Schmidt, Gotthard Graubner, Farblicht, in: Veit Görner und Caroline Sommer (ed.), Gotthard Graubner, Farblicht, exhib.cat. Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover 2003).