Lot 522 D

In 1969 Gallery Thelen in Cologne held an exhibition of works on newspaper by Paul Thek. The exhibition was held in a flat in central Cologne, which had served the artist as studio and accommodation. The majority of works were produced there, as well as the series ''Newspaper Paintings'', characterised by the fact that the image carrier would become an essential component of the composition. The nature of the material, the sensitivity of the newspaper, creates a symbolism of temporality and decay. This is supported by the topical content of the news which can be viewed in some places between the painting.
„Multiple rows of Newspaper Paintings were mounted along the left wall of the first room, a succession of paintings made on pages from the International Herald Tribune, in each of which Thek's alter-ego (a person floating on their back) could be seen, was installed at eye-level. In the second room, Fishman (1969) was displayed lying on his back on the ground, thus in a posture similar to the swimmer's. Allusions to the passing of time and the works' transitory nature were present in the incorporation of the consecutive dates October 9-13, 1969 (the 13th having been its opening date), in the movement suggested by the different placements of the swimmer in each frame (corresponding to the progression of time and movement in each of the pictures), and in the gradual dissolution of the swimmer's outline in each successive image. These swimmer paintings were surrounded by a further sequence of Newspaper Paintings, which Thek painted in a smaller format using pages from the Village Voice. Untitled (island) (1969) depicts a group of islands, which seem to be appearing on the horizon, as seen from the perspective of the approaching swimmer. The discrepancy between the different newspaper formats caused the swimmer to move into the foreground, and the chain of islands to appear to be closer to the horizon line. Newspapers, splashed with blue and white paint, were laid out on the apartment floor, simulating the position of the viewer immersed on a body of water. Depending on how the viewer construed the perspective projected by the group of images, the swimmer alternately appeared to be circling, approaching, or moving away from the chain of islands. Just as the swimmer seemed to disappear into the water, the group of islands ultimately disappears into the distance - the direction in which it disappears depends on the order in which the images are looked at. Thus the parameter of movement, time, and space are dynamically and interactively defines by the viewer, who must in effect determine the images' chronology for him or herself. The apparently two-dimensional quality of these works on newspaper affixed to the wall takes on a spatial aspect as a result of the viewer's interaction. Thek achieves his complex intention by using simple configurations that animate the changes of perspective and the subject matter of the installation.“ (Ulrike Baumgart, “Things are going to happen…” The Processual Aspect of Paul Thek`s Newspaper Paintings, in: Harald Falckenberg u.a. (Hg.), Paul Thek Artist's Artist, Ausst.Kat. Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe u.a. 2008, S. 202-204).