Albert Oehlen – författare

“Finishing it is then the job of the human hand.”—Albert OehlenAlbert Oehlen’s (b. Krefeld, 1954; lives and works between Gais, La Palma, and Los Angeles) first Computer Paintings were made with the assistance of a notebook computer he had bought in 1990. The painter used it to sketch initial drawings he then transferred to the canvas in several series beginning in the 1990s. The constrained pixel aesthetic imposed by the technology with its aliasing and block effects became a consequential point of departure for a strand in his oeuvre that veers between cool austerity and a proliferating diversity of forms. It seems more relevant than ever in light of today’s debates around the use of artificial intelligence in art.The publication Computer Paintings accompanies the exhibition at Hamburger Kunsthalle and documents the eponymous body of work by Albert Oehlen, which has rarely been on public view. With an essay by the director Alexander Klar.

This multimedia boxed set presents a sweeping look at work by pioneering German painter Albert Oehlen (b. 1954), one of the most energetic and significant artists working today. Deeply influenced by literature, music, film, and graphic design, Oehlen’s paintings are the result of a complex layering of methods, subject matter, and viewpoints. This distinctive set contains a catalogue of the winter 2016--17 exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art as well as an anthology of texts and images edited by Christopher Williams, a poster, and a vinyl record with a new work by composer and musician Michael Wertmüller, reflecting Oehlen’s singular approach to art-making and the collaborative nature of this publication.Distributed for the Cleveland Museum of ArtExhibition Schedule:Cleveland Museum of Art(12/04/16–03/12/17)

This book documents two new bodies of work; a series of large four-part aluminium panel paintings incorporating Oehlen's recurring motif of trees and a series titled Finger Paintings, in which colour-blocked advertisements are an extension of the canvas, providing fragmented, ready-made surfaces for Oehlen's visceral markings, made with his hands as well as with brushes, rags, and spray cans. Both series were exhibited at Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, in summer 2014.