BERLIN.- Galerie Max Hetzler is presenting Rosa See, a solo exhibition of Tal R and the artist’s inaugural exhibition with the gallery at Goethestraße 2/3, in Berlin.
Presenting a new body of work inspired by a trip to Iceland, Rosa See delves viewers into Copenhagen-based artist Tal R’s rich visual lexicon whilst probing the boundaries of representation itself. In these compositions – including drawings created en plein air and paintings developed in the studio – the artist depicts Icelandic lakes in vivid, non-naturalistic colour. The landscapes slip in and out of abstraction, suggesting a universe of luminous colours, exuberant patterns and palpable rhythm.
Depicted from various vantage points, Tal R’s lakes resemble amoebic forms which surge toward the viewer and push against the broad, curving shorelines that surround them. Brightly coloured mounds conjure mountain ranges, while globular clouds deliver rainfall in thick, agitated downward strokes. Elsewhere, bouncing lines suggest ripples in the water’s undulating surface, while minimally delineated pebbles, plants and spruces decorate the rocky shore.
Tal R’s play with shapes and colours finds centre stage in these compositions, which capture the landscape as much as they do the act of creation itself. ‘The interesting thing for the artist is that you start to develop language,’ Tal R says, ‘and the moment you create words, they are just on the tipping point of meaning something else.’ The colour pink bears its own associations: ‘It is both superficial and it means something […] it’s a very clichéd colour. Rosa is something to jump into.’ Indeed, Tal R’s lakes fluctuate in colour; bright coral waters give way to deeper fuchsia and more sinister mulberry tones, in turn speaking to the uncanny undercurrent beneath these pictures. Deceptively simple and formally reduced, the artist’s forms are nonetheless burgeoning with potential, restlessly redefining themselves as they summon a vision of nature in constant flux.
Similarly, the shapes of the paintings on view challenge definition. Reminiscent of puzzle pieces, folded papers or even keyholes – a term often invoked by the artist to describe art’s promise to depict other realms – these canvases dare the viewer to complete them. As the familiar tips into abstraction, we are prompted to consider the essential question of picture-making: how do we translate the world around us?
Tal R (*1967, Tel Aviv) lives and works in Copenhagen. The artist's work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions in institutions including Palazzo Experimental, Venice (2023); Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg; Malmö Art Museum; Museum MORE, Gorssel; Artipelag, Stockholm (all 2022); Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund (2021); Glyptoteket, Copenhagen (2020); Hastings Contemporary (2019); MOCAD, Detroit (2018); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (both 2017); Institut für Modern Kunst, Nuremberg (2016); ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (both 2013); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf; Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, Sāo Paulo; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (all 2012); Der Kunstverein, Hamburg (2011); Centro de Arte Contemporaneo, Malaga (2009); Essel Museum, Klosterneuburg (2008); BonnefantenMuseum, Maastricht; Camden Arts Centre, London; and Kunsthalle Mannheim (all 2007), among others.
Tal R’s work is included in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; Berlinische Galerie, Berlin; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Hammer Museum, LA; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; Louisiana, Humlebæk; Kiasma, Helsinki; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; SMK, Copenhagen; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, among others.
