Albert Oehlen *

(born in Krefeld, Germany 1954)
Untitled (Baum 52), 2015, signed and dated on the reverse A. Oehlen 2015, oil on dibond, 250 x 250 cm

Provenance:
Gagosian Gallery, London (label on the reverse)
European Private Collection – acquired from the above 2016

Exhibited:
London, Gagosian Gallery, Albert Oehlen, 5 February – 24 March 2016, exh. cat. with ill.


“And yet [...] I have always engaged in abstract painting—even when figurative elements happened to emerge. Admittedly, there were various phases along the way, but ultimately my work has reached a point that bears a certain resemblance to German Informalism and, perhaps, to American Abstract Expressionism—though with an entirely different meaning. [...] At the very least, the focus has shifted away from profound moods or grand emotions. A cooler sensibility now prevails. It is about colour, canvas, scale, the hand—nothing beyond that. There is nothing to depict, only the gesture itself. Arm, shoulder, hand. And then it gradually becomes evident: what might initially appear to be unbounded freedom is, in fact, merely freedom within constraint.”

Hans-Joachim Müller, Wenn die ganze Kleinstadt zur Galerie wird, in: Die Welt, 25.09.2010.

“In the beginning, when I first had the tree in
the painting, I needed some motif. I thought, the tree, ah! [...] Then I started thinking, ‘what
makes it a tree?’ I can go here, I can go there, and whatever I do, it is still a tree as long as there’s something in the middle rather thicker to the outside”

the artist in: Nate Freeman,“I Just Enjoy Making a Big Mess’: Albert Oehlen on His Deconstructed Tree Paintings at Gagosian”, ARTnews, 14 April 2017

Albert Oehlen has been a prominent figure in contemporary art since the 1980s, finding impetus for his work in the oft-cited "death of painting." Since then, he has continually redefined the boundaries of the medium, engaging with it in ever-evolving ways. Drawing upon an extraordinary spectrum of styles and techniques, Oehlen persistently re-examines what painting can signify in the present day. His works navigate between abstraction and figuration, incorporating digital imagery and collage. A hallmark of his artistic practice is his ironic perception of reality, the integration of all facets of life into art, and a deliberate blurring of the lines between high culture and popular culture.

Since the 1980s, Oehlen has explored the tree motif through a broad array of interpretations. “Untitled (Baum 52)” belongs to a more extensive series in which he overlays geometric forms—rendered in graduated, partially glazed hues of blue or red—onto luminous white aluminium dibond panels, positioning the central motif slightly off-centre. The abstracted tree form—resembling the shadow of a branch with whimsical offshoots—suggests the expressive spontaneity of the painter’s hand, while the cruciform composition hints at a digital visual language. “Untitled (Baum 52)” exemplifies Oehlen’s compositional finesse: clear contours and amorphous blurring, stasis and dynamism coexist here in a harmonious balance. At the heart of his artistic project lies a consistent effort to dismantle traditional dichotomies—between figuration and abstraction, figure and ground, colour and line.