Katharina Grosse

Untitled, 2006

Town and Country, 2006

Cincy, 2006

Katharina Grosse's paintings are massive explosions of color, material and energy. Her mix of over saturated colors sprayed on to unlikely surfaces are very dramatic and over the top. Material that could easily be seen as garbage or ruble becomes suddenly glorified and used as a canvas. Her work ranges in scale from on the walls of a small gallery space to engulfing an entire warehouse, pushing what is generally though of as an art object. At a certain point these large works become almost performance like in that the viewer has to physically travel a sizable distance in order to take the entire piece in. It becomes an entirely new form that cannot really be easily defined by a term such as painting or sculpture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3nV--hCckc

Watching her work is truly just as much a part of the work as the piece itself. The droning sound mixed with the dense particle clouds creates an atmosphere that is very overwhelming. The artist here is deeply involved physically in her work to the point that she had to protect her self from the materials that surround her. The whole process of all that goes on to create one of her pieces is really interesting to me. So much more than just a brush or a canvas is needed in order to make each piece come into reality. Instead of bringing her work to the space, she makes the space itself her work.