Albert Oehlen's work focuses exclusively on exposing art's failures. Borrowing from the tropes of traditional abstract painting, Oehlen readily subverts art's lofty idealism. Using traditional forms and techniques, he conceives a contemporary dialogue of criticism based on the possibilities of creative function rather than aesthetics. In a modern world where painting is considered dead, Albert Oehlen reinvents its life as a manic zombie state: mutated, funny and ideologically dangerous.
BIOGRAPHY
1954
Born in Krefeld, Germany Currently lives and works in Bizkaia, Spain
1978
Hochschule f'r Bildende Kunst, Hamburg, BA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2005
Spiegelbilder 1982-1985 Max Hetzler, Berlin
2004
Mus'e Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne The Good Life Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
2003
Alfonso Artiaco, Naples
2002
Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels
2001
Self Portraits Skarstedt Fine Art, New York Checkers Galerie Baerbel Graesslin, Frankfurt
2000
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin Patrick Painter Inc, Santa Monica
1999
Lord, Pferdeflusterer, Antichrist Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid
1998
Galerie Mikael Anderson, Copenhagen Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
1997
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Baladas Heavy Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
1996
Obras Recientes Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2005
Groundswell MOMA, New York
2004
Pixels Stellan Holm Gallery, New York Hot Ice: Recent Painting from the Scharpff Collection Kunstalle, Hamburg
2003
Biennale d'Art Contemporain de Lyon Lyon Painting Pictures: Painting and Media in the Digital Age Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
2000
Painting on the Move Kunstmuseum, Basel Glee: Painting Now Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, Florida
1999
Decades in Dialogue Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Digital Sites Numark Gallery, Washington Sammlung Essl: The First View Klosterneuburg, Vienna
1998
Recollection Kunstverein, Graz Georg Herold / Albert Oehlen Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin Selbstportraits Galerie Barbel Grasslin, Frankfurt Fast Forward Archives Kunstverein, Hamburg
On Paper II Schmidt Contemporary Art, St Louis Peinture-Peinture Galerie Samia Saouma, Paris Provins ? Legende Museet for Samtidskunst, Roskilde
Article Theme :- Albert Oehlen combines aspects of figurative sexuality, mechanical distance and painterly abstraction. It's a bastard hybrid of painting, incorporating smooth polished forms, heavy brushwork, and the implied photo-gloss of airbrush. The end result is more like a collage than a painting: a loud and exasperating argument in different tongues, promising never to be resolved for lack of a common idiom.Albert Oehlen is a master of ironic wit and his paintings are elaborate strategies of provocation. In Untitled, Albert Oehlen subverts the authority of the avant-garde, creating an abstraction of dumbed-down abjection. His painting poses as a deceptive icon of aesthetic contemplation, punctuated with flirtatious eyes returning the viewer's gaze.
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