PAUL OSIPOW – NEW PAINTINGS
2017-10-23For the greater part of his artistic career Paul Osipow has emphasized abstract and non-figurative painting and is a leading proponent of its development within the Nordic art scene, where he continues to inspire new generations of artists.
Osipow’s exhibitions in the 1990s revealed his gradual movement away from a pure geometric expression to one unrestricted, inspired by pioneers of modern painting with samplings from late Impressionism, Cubism and Fauvism. Throughout, Osipow has maintained a bold approach to abstract and figurative concepts in terms of what and how to paint. With pragmatic distance and profound seriousness he experiments with the medium’s fundamental and constant questions regarding surface, color, space and form; to depict or not, thus creating intriguing artworks and contributing to an analytical criticism of his medium.
In the preparatory works for this new series of paintings one can sense inspiration from Nordic vernacular rag rugs, but in the works to be shown in this exhibition, a connection has also been made with the craft of mosaics reflecting Osipow’s longstanding interest in the ancient Mediterranean cultures. Composed of brick-like horizontal bands of painted dots, the paintings have been crafted with a certain crudeness and delicacy which results in a strong and direct visual language. Osipow includes the left and right margins of the canvas in these compositions – revealing traces and notes like a prisoners graffiti from the disciplined workdays in his Helsinki Studio. The meticulously laid segments form a long line of contemplation on a painterly foundation which Osipow has constantly developed since the 1960s.
Opposite – Untitled, 2017
Exhibition runs through to November 18th, 2017
Galleri Riis
Arbins gate 7
NO-0253 Oslo
Norway
