WHAT
The exhibition of new paintings by the German-born LA-based artist is titled ‘|’ – an ode to verticality. The exhibition marks 10 years since the artist’s debut with the gallery. Known for examining the psychological space where individual expressions confronts social constraints, each work in the presentation contains a central totemic form built from thin strips of cardboard encrusted with oil paint; these columns sit on fields of thick paint spread across the coloured canvases.

WHY
Formally and socially, verticality defines integrity; it is also historically a measurement of excellence, and is associated with progress, status, and respect. On the flip side, it is however also subject to collapse. In a practice that spans painting, sculpture, drawing, collage, video, ceramics, and textiles, the artist alludes to key artistic tendencies and to the intersection of sociopolitical histories with the narrative of his own life. Through juxtaposition, he interweaves the disruption of aesthetic convention with the reexamination of civil structures.