GÜNTHER FÖRG (1952-2013)

In Günther Förg’s Untitled, 2000, thin bands of white glow against a shimmering darkness, two beacons illuminating the large grey expanse. Förg was fascinated with the connection between surface and support, a relationship he probed throughout his life. He believed strongly that painting was the pure expression of physicality. Throughout his career, Förg’s canvases were often hybrid creations whose ultimate composition was often determined by both the artist and the essential qualities of the materials he selected. By deliberately positioning his practice between styles and media, Förg freed his work from the burden of representation and forged a new space in which painting was no longer required to perform. ‘If you only have the concept and maybe, yes, you do a really good job with this concept,’ Förg said, ‘it will, however, never have the fullness of sensibility that good painting will have,’ he has explained. ‘Really, painting should be sexy. It should be sensual. These are things that will always escape the concept’ (G. Förg, quoted in D. Ryan, ‘Talking Painting: Interview with Günther Förg Karlsruhe 1997’). In Untitled, Förg took the canvas, the pigments, and his brushwork as his subjects, embracing the unpredictable alchemy born from their capricious interaction.