Opening Times:
Tuesday and Thursday 2 - 7 pm
Location:
SUPPAN Schaulager
Doblhoffgasse 7, 1010 Vienna
Contact:
office@suppan.art | +43 1 535 535 4
Exhibition text:
“Forty”
To title an exhibition with forty works by Michael Ornauer from 2020 to today “Forty” is a consistent continuation of his artistic approach. Everything begins with a neutral observation of the current state, be it confronting a blank canvas or curating an empty room. The deeper themes and narratives only become apparent when you look at the works on display. The exhibition “Forty” does not follow an overarching theme, but rather provides an insight into Ornauer’s creative process over the past few years. This is further accentuated by the serial hanging.
The origin of all paintings is a self-made table, as can be seen on the upper floor of the exhibition. The works are created exclusively horizontally, with the tabletop as an easel. Applying pressure to the canvases, which are also self-made and often stretched on wood, and the resistance of the tabletop are essential to Ornauer's technique. The screen acts as the first of many levels. This is followed by layer upon layer upon layer until a final surface becomes an image as a conscious decision.
Each of Ornauer's pictures is a balance of coincidence and technique. A central aspect of the process is that there are no mistakes, only a basis for new things. As with Kintsugi, the Japanese repair technique in which broken ceramics are cemented with an adhesive mixed with gold, and the object only reaches its perfection through this action, the same is true with Ornauer's works. Each layer influences the subsequent and only the sum of imperfect layers results in the final expression.
Each layer of fresh paint is removed from top to bottom with a squeegee, creating the color gradients that are so characteristic of Ornauer's work. In general, the zones and transitions are of crucial importance. They contain the nuances in which all the overarching narratives unfold. The most obvious of these are the question of color and painting itself. Color gradients, a conscious break in color theory, color tones, color harmonies and disharmonies are evident in every painting.
This confrontation always takes place vertically. The painting is taken from the table and hung on the wall, detached from the colorful overload of the tabletop, it becomes a work of art on the white wall, or an intermediate stage, which is placed back on the table to disappear under ever new layers. This process can be repeated several times until a layer has emerged from all the others that remains vertical in the long term.
The question of beauty or kitsch always resonates. The paintings generally oscillate between opulence and simplicity, the respective series are a crescendo of colors, which always culminate in a black painting. The intensity of color or beauty cannot be increased endlessly and so culminates with constant regularity in a creative dark palate cleanser. Within the overarching series of 60x50 cm paintings, new sub-series are created in a rhythm that is also clearly noticeable in the exhibition.
Jan Gustav Fiedler
To read the original german text please click here.
