Beschreibung:

Robert Mangold Column Structure XXII A 2008 acrylic and black pencil on canvas 228.6 x 182.9 cm (90 x 72 in.) This work is numbered No. 47444.
Provenance Acquired directly from the artist PaceWildenstein, New York Exhibited Robert Mangold Drawings and Works on Paper 1965 - 2008, PaceWildenstein, New York, 6 March - 4 April, 2009 3 x 3: Minimal Sculpture and Painting, L.A louver, Venice, California, 14 January - 13 February, 2010 Literature H. Cotter, Art in review: Robert Mangold Drawings and works on Paper 1965 - 2008 (exhibition Review), The New York Times, 13 March 2009: C23 A larger version of the work, Column Structure XXII, (2008, 304.8 x 243.8 cm / 10 x 8 in.) is in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York Catalogue Essay Since the beginning of his career in the mid-60’s, Mangold has explored the three classical elements of composition –shape, line and colour- to create abstract works of architectural scale. Influenced by Frank Stella’s shaped canvases, he developed multiple series of paintings with geometric, asymmetrical forms including variations on rings, columns, trapezoids and crosses with shallow moulding or other relief elements. From his first solo exhibition, Walls and Areas, at the Fischbach Gallery, New York, in 1965, Mangold has further developed his classical formal restraint and deliberate subtle tonal palette moving towards his signature Minimalist painting style. Mangold’s work has been the subject of numerous solo shows and retrospective exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad: including Robert Mangold at the Guggenheim Museum, New York (1971), Robert Mangold Painting as Wall, Werke con 1964 bis 1993, organized by the Hallen fur neue Kunst with subsequent venues in Paris, Munster and Lisbon (1993- 95), Robert Mangold X, Plus and Frame Paintings, Works from the 1980's at the Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London (2009) and Robert Mangold Continuity and Discontinuity, Cleveland Institute of Art, Ohio (2011). His work has been included three times in both Documenta, Kassel (1972, 1977, 1982) and in the Witney Museum of American Art Biennial (1979, 1983, 1985). Mangold has also exhibited in the Venice Biennale in 1993. Created in 2008, this geometry-based painting executed in the form of an asymmetric cross on a royal blue, monochromatic surface with evocative lines, demonstrates Mangold’s unique translation of the most basic formal element. As emphasized by the art historian Dr. Richard Shiff, "a typical work by Mangold reads as flat, yet is also a field that contains figuration; simple enough to be viewed as a totality, its shapes are nevertheless eccentric and strangely asymmetrical. Each work defeats expectations of regularity based on the existing conventions of abstract… each of his paintings acquired a compelling uniqueness. It is art to which you never become habituated". (Dr. Richard Shiff, A Compelling Uniqueness, Robert Mangold Paintings, 1990-2002, exh. cat., Aspen Art Museum, 2003, p. 25). Column Structure XXII, a sequitur to his Column Structure paintings, is entirely committed to form, colour and structure, but its primary focus remains that of the concept of verticality. Each work in this series has a central vertical section that is subdivided by straight, horizontal soft lines and attached with squares or triangles fragments from the sides or near the top. Mangold’s work is often associated with the fragmented architecture of New York, where he lives and works. Commenting on the ambivalent vision of this city, Mangold states: "I see everything in fragments, in segments – a segment of a lorry, a segment of a building. In New York one doesn’t see the whole, but each fragment becomes a self-contained whole". (April-June 2007 www.galeriegretameert.com). Mangold refers to the simplicity of the most basic formal elements to express complex ideas and challenge our preconceived notions of the boundaries and limitations of art. While Mangold’s work is often focused on aesthetic concerns, he also invites the viewer to scrutinize intensively by setting up visual challenges. Over th