
F (A thing is a thing in a whole which its not)
David Ostrowski's "F (A thing is a thing in a whole which its not)" exemplifies his signature reductive approach, combining oil, lacquer, and paper on canvas to create a spare, gestural composition that hovers between intention and accident. Delicate marks, drips, and fragments of paper sit against an expansive, nearly bare canvas, inviting the viewer to question the nature of the painted object itself. The work embodies Ostrowski's ongoing exploration of painting's own limitations and possibilities, finding meaning in what is left out as much as what remains.
- Medium
- oil, lacquer, paper on canvas
- Location
- Phillips, Salt Lake City, UT
- Spotted At
- Auction House · PhillipsView on map
🔨 Auction Lot
Contemporary Day Sale
July 3, 2014
More by David Ostrowski
Artists in conversation

Raoul De Keyser
Belgian · b. 1930

De Keyser shared Ostrowski's commitment to reductive, spare painting where minimal marks on largely empty canvas surfaces create a tension between intention and accident. His small, hesitant gestures and interest in painting's own fragility and limitations directly echo the contemplative emptiness found in this work.

Charline von Heyl
German · b. 1960

Von Heyl's experimental abstract canvases combine gestural marks, layered mixed media elements, and a deliberate interrogation of what painting can and cannot do, mirroring Ostrowski's philosophical and material approach. Her German background and engagement with contemporary abstraction's conceptual stakes align closely with the spirit of this specific piece.

Francesca Mollett
British · b. 1984

Mollett works with layered oil and mixed media surfaces where accidental drips and raw material qualities are embraced rather than concealed, creating compositions that feel both deliberate and contingent much like this Ostrowski work. Her interest in exposing the physical process of painting resonates with the gestural and experimental qualities visible here.
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