Frieze New York 2022
Gagosian | Albert Oehlen
Gagosian is pleased to announce participation in Frieze New York 2022, with a solo presentation of work by Albert Oehlen that shines a light on the commercial nature of life in general and art fairs in particular.
The booth will feature a vending machine offering Kafftee/Cofftea, a hybrid coffee/tea beverage developed by Oehlen in collaboration with Aqua Monaco. A limited number of bottles of the unique caffeinated drink (which, according to the artist, “won’t let you sleep ever again”) will be available to the public free of charge. Kafftee/Cofftea was last distributed in Oehlen’s exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries, London, in 2019–20, and previously in exhibitions at Lokremise Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland (2019); Aïshti Foundation, Beirut (2018–19); and Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2018–19).
The booth will also feature four paintings from 2014 that reinforce the presentation’s commercial theme. These canvases combine a graphic Pop art aesthetic with abstract painterly marks made using hands, rags, and spray cans, as well as with conventional brushes. The connection with Oehlen’s Fingermalerei (Finger Painting) series (2008–) is clear; in works from both series, printed matter provides a readymade surface that both supports and facilitates unexpected visual and tonal juxtapositions. Here, collage functions as both a formal and a conceptual apparatus.
Throughout his practice, Oehlen uses abstract, figurative, and collaged elements—often applying self-imposed constraints—to disrupt the histories and conventions of modern painting. While championing self-consciously “bad” painting characterized by crude drawing and jarring coloration, he infuses expressive gesture with surrealist attitude, disparaging the quest for reliable form and stable meaning.
Oehlen will be the subject of a solo exhibition at Gagosian Athens opening on June 9, 2022, in which he will premiere a new sculpture and works on paper.To receive a PDF with detailed information on the works at Frieze New York, please contact the gallery at inquire@gagosian.com.To attend the fair, purchase tickets at frieze.com.Albert Oehlen was born in Krefeld, Germany, and lives and works in Switzerland. Collections include the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL; Cleveland Museum of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Museo Jumex, Mexico City; the Broad, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Tate, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; and Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Exhibitions include Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy (2009); Réalité abstraite, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2009–10); Terpentin, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2012); Malerei, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna (2013); 55th Biennale di Venezia (2013); Die 5000 Finger von Dr. Ö, Museum Wiesbaden, Germany (2014); Home and Garden, New Museum, New York (2015); An Old Painting in Spirit, Kunsthalle Zürich (2015); Behind the Image, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain (2016–17); Woods near Oehle, Cleveland Museum of Art (2016–17); Trance, Aïshti Foundation, Beirut (2018–19); Cows by the Water, Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2018–19); Unfinished, Lokremise Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland (2019); and Serpentine Galleries, London (2019–20).
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