ANNE IMHOF (B. 1978)

Measuring over two metres in height, Untitled (2017-2018) is a monumental work from Anne Imhof’s seminal series of ‘scratch’ paintings. Rendered in jet black lacquer on aluminium panel, the work presents a frenzied array of silver lacerations. Scrawled, angular lettering at the lower left reads ‘Arrogance Authority’. In the upper segment, a group of scribbled, sgraffito symbols appear, their indiscernible forms lying somewhere between abstraction and figuration. Aggressive yet intimate, the work's gouged surface quivers with urban energy, liked a keyed car: for Imhof, ‘the scratching of lacquer derives from an action on the streets’ (A. Imhof, quoted in J. Sans, Purple Magazine, 76 No. 29, 2018).

It is impossible to view Untitled without recalling the violent gestures of its making. Its immediacy is stressed by its erratically jotted text, bearing propagandist overtones. When asked by Hans Ulrich Obrist whether she engages in writing, Imhof responded: ‘I do, but nothing I would call comprehensive texts. They are usually not longer than a page and are then applied or scratched on paintings and are recurring in my work, as in the spoken parts of the pieces. Notes, small poems and letters mostly, emails I write during the initial phase of a new work. I like to steal words, I’m a thief with words’ (A. Imhof, quoted in H. Ulrich Obrist, ‘Choreographed Layers: Anne Imhof. Anne Imhof in Conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist’, Mousse Magazine, 1 July 2016).

Born in Giessen, Germany in 1978, and graduating from the Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main in 2012, Imhof has risen to critical acclaim over the past decade. Her paintings, sculptures and performances have featured in exhibitions including DEAL at MoMA PS1, New York in 2015, Angst II at the Hamburger Banhof, Berlin in 2016 and Sex at Tate Modern, London in 2019. In 2017, she represented Germany at the Venice Biennale, and was awarded a Golden Lion for her seminal work Faust (2017). She currently lives and works between Berlin and New York.