A.R. Penck Lot n° 14

A.R. Penck Untitled (New Space) 2000 Acrylic on canvas 100 x 120 cm. Signed 'ar penck'. Provenance Gallery Winter, Wiesbaden (2000); Private collection, Hesse Exhibitions Wiesbaden 2000 (Gallery Winter), A.R. Penck, New Paintings (color illustration on the exhibition poster) "New Space" thematizes a situation of upheaval, a physical as well as mental change that seems to be profoundly taking place for the painted protagonist at this moment. The depiction divides vertically into two halves - hurriedly and with sweeping movements, the man leaves the white surface space; upon entering the red surface space, his own coloration changes from white to black. He strives towards the figure standing in the background with four arms and four legs, which interacts vividly not only with him but also with the objects surrounding it. A glimpse into the protagonist's brain reveals his also mental connection with the red space, through a cuboid arrest hanging from his right arm he seems to be still bound in the white space. A.R. Penck deals with social and political issues in his ostensibly simple, but in fact highly complex pictograms developed on the basis of philosophical and art historical research. "Without being tied to concrete events, they deal with problem situations and decision conflicts in the social reality of the individual human being." (Karin Thomas, Krise und Ich-Findung im künstlerischen Psychogramm, Freundesbild und Selbstporträt, in: Eckhart Gillen (ed.), Deutschlandbilder, Kunst aus einem geteilten Land, Cologne 1997, p.550).