SHAHEEN is delighted to present an exhibition of recent large-scale drawings by Austrian born, Vienna based artist Klaus Mosettig. This is Mosettig's first solo gallery exhibition in the United States, as well as the first time that the three works comprising the show, all of which have appeared in multiple museum exhibitions, have been presented in a gallery context.
The bulk of Mosettig's mature work has revolved around the practice of drawing from projected slide imagery, where the slide and projection become the subject of the artist's distinctly contemporary form of still life. Neither appropriative nor ironic, Mosettig's interest in working from pre-existing imagery lies in the utility of images as readymade found objects; issues inherent in technical and visual repetition; and the process of transcription, not for the purposes of depicting an image and the contextual narrative that its reproduction can evoke, but for the hermetic and abstracted quality of an approach to the relay of visual information that is variously objective and subjective. Through the systematic application of diagonal hatch marks of varying length and tonality, all drawn in the same direction, Mosettig methodically transcribes and re-constructs the projected slide images, transforming them into slate-like visual continuums in which layering gives way to flatness, and color is transcribed into a spectrum of blacks, whites and greys.
Mosettig's exhibition at SHAHEEN consists of two incredibly ambitious large scale drawings, and a single work comprised of eight smaller drawings, all of which have been drawn 1:1 scale in graphite from projected slide images of specific works by Jackson Pollock -- namely the paintings Number 32 and Lavender Mist, and a smaller scale untitled work on paper from 1950. The stark contrast between Pollock's fiery expressionistic approach to painting and Mosettig's slow, deliberate approach to art making combine with the variable quality of the slide image and constant gain and loss of visual information precipitated by the projector / projection to yield drawn transcriptions that are markedly different in their material quality and reduced level of detail than the works by Pollock they appear to "depict". In Mosettig's hands, at close range, Pollock's spontaneous drips and splatters give way to a planar continuum of diagonal hatching and an altogether different visual and physical microstructure. More transformative than reproductive, the resulting drawings are iconic and spectacular, yet ultimately conducive to a slow, contemplative and ever-changing visual experience.
Klaus Mosettig was born in 1975 in Graz, Austria, and currently lives and works in Vienna. Over the past few years, his work has been the subject of one person exhibitions at Secession, Vienna; Kunstraum Dornbirn, Austria; Stadtgalerie Schwaz, Austria; and Stuart Shave / Modernart in London. In addition, his work has been included in numerous group museum exhibitions, prestigious European institutions such as the Kunstahlle Karlsruhe and MUMOK Vienna, and will be included in the Saatchi Gallery's upcoming exhibition "The Power of Paper".