GALERIE MAX HETZLER PRESENTS
Günther Förg
1987 - 2011

12 November 2011 - 28 January 2012
Preview: 12 November, 6-8 pm


Dear Editors,

Galerie Max Hetzler is pleased to present an exhibition of Günther Förg featuring works from 1987 to 2011. On this occasion the gallery is turned into a quite commanding immersive environment with the seminal black and white photograph 'Ika' (1987) as an introduction to the exhibition. A specially commissioned wall painting is on view along  with a mirror, photographs from the series of rationalist architecture 'Città Universitaria', paintings from the nineties and noughties, including very large formats and recent paintings from the series known as the grit or dot paintings. Thus underscoring Förg's interdisciplinary investigations and his use of the space conceived as one work.

Long before notions of installation and site specifity gained common currency, Förg developed a multidisciplinary practice in which different mediums are exhibited simultaneously. Since the early 70's Günther Förg has been producing an extensive body of work including abstract and monochrome painting, against the general trend of figurative painting so predominant in the 80's. Wall paintings, bronze sculptures, large format photographs as well as drawings and graphics witness the diversity of his approach. Early series of grey paintings lead to the use of lead and aluminium as surfaces for painting. Pigment as material on a wall surface became the base of his installations. During the 70's Förg became equally interested in photography and very large formats.  A medium that allowed him to document portraits and especially architecture, above all Italian rationalist and other iconic modernist buildings of the 20th century. For this purpose he travelled extensively to Spain, Israel, Austria, Russia, France, Turkey and Italy, not to mention Germany where he photographed Bauhaus buildings. The photographs are presented under thick protective glass reflecting the room and the viewer, absorbing them into the image. Their scale and format, reminiscing windows, echo his subject of predilection, architecture.

On his canvas the paint is usually thinly and rapidly applied, often covering a surface rather than creating a form. The imprecision of the boundaries between colours reinforces the impression that these are hastily executed works, produced in an almost mechanical manner, making it impossible to consider the pictorial trace as the result of an expressionist or stylistic intention. In recent years Günther Förg surprised with quite different paintings, this time brighter and more gestural. As a result of their intuitive approach to colour they appear as colourful constellations radiating from lush brush strokes.

Upcoming exhibitions include a solo presentation at Greene Naftali, New York, in 2012.

A fully illustrated catalogue, published by Holzwarth Publications, will accompany the exhibition.

Galerie Max Hetzler
Oudenarder Strasse 16-20
13347 Berlin Germany
Phone +49.30.459 7742-0
www.maxhetzler.com
Opening Hours Tue-Sat 11am - 6pm

Press contact
BUREAU N, Silke Neumann
silke.neumann@bureau-n.de
Phone +49.30.30874085
www.bureau-n.de