styrofoam and silicone on canvas
2003
Rudolf Stingel's work challenges conventional notions of painting by transforming industrial and unconventional materials into meditative surfaces that blur the boundaries between process and product. In this piece, the tactile interplay of styrofoam and silicone creates a textured, relief-like surface that invites the viewer to reconsider the physicality of the canvas as both support and subject. Stingel's characteristic embrace of materiality and chance elevates everyday substances into an exploration of time, labor, and the nature of artistic authorship.
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Phillips
🔨 Auction Lot
20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale
June 26, 2018
More by Rudolf Stingel
styrofoam, 4 panels
“Zen is about acceptance, right?” Mr. Stingel said. “So that’s the way it is. I do sit and look at him sometimes — we have a meaningful relationship. You can’t get over it. You just live with it.” - Rudolph Stingel
The radicalness of Stingel’s Cellotex panels is often underestimated. While rejecting any suggestion of being a social, political or conceptual gesture, these works may be some of the most open and brave moments in recent contemporary art production. As with his provocative instruction book on how to make his paintings, Stingel once again gives himself and his work, in their totality, to the public and the viewer. He invites the viewer inside the surface of his work, and allows anyone to make a 'contribution' to it. The critical voice of the viewer becomes part of the work. Like magnetic tape, the artist records the viewer’s reaction to his work – not simply verbally, but physically.
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