MUNICH.- The combination of the two words ‘random' and ‘sampling' initially appears to be a contradiction. Random signifies the unintended occurrence of something that takes place in a seemingly incoherent or at least unpredictable way. A sampling, on the other hand, has a recognizable structure that is based on repetition; a sample follows an ordering principle.

It is the privilege of private collectors to acquire pieces according to their own tastes and interests, unrestricted by set parameters of form and content. The freedom of institutional collecting, by contrast, is restricted by geographical, historical, encyclopedic, or other considerations.

The private collection of Ingvild Goetz possesses a special significance. Since the beginning of Goetz's activity as a collector, painting has been the central focus. The collector expanded her holding of paintings without regard to the ideological controversy surrounding postwar art. In this debate, abstraction signified progressiveness, while representational painting was interpreted as regressive; abstraction and representation had been parsed into opposites. The independent attitude with which Ingvild Goetz regarded painting is now an important aspect of the collection. Her method of collection may initially have appeared random and been subjectively motivated. Yet, compiled according to the principle of randomness, this body of work now appears rigorously objective.

Since the mid-1980s, Ingvild Goetz has not only acquired contemporary works, but expanded her collection to include historical trends, such as Arte Povera and Minimal Art. From a present-day perspective, she has succeeded in acquiring representative groups of works from these artistic positions.

The works in the exhibition share the concept of "sampling". A sample follows the principle of infinite expansion and repetition. Udomsak Krisanamis (1966) glues torn strips of varied printed material - newspapers, pamphlets, receipts, maps - onto the canvas, then supplements these with everyday objects, such as noodles and fabric, and finally paints the work. His collages are like abstract sculptural objects. The punctuated pattern (Automatic Lover, 2001) results from the blackening of the letters, of which only the inside area remains - a reminder in our digital era of traditional printing techniques. Krisanamis' images transform the flicker of data streams into a blank state of emptiness, a manifestation of the influence of Buddhism in the artist's work.

A pattern can be created linearly or symmetrically, like Chris Ofili's dots. The repeated element that forms the pattern can expand from the center to the edge. In light of this principle, all "randomly patterned" works engage with a broader understanding of the term painting. They go beyond the dimensions of the canvas, beyond traditional panel painting, and sometimes literally reach into and sprawl over the room. Katharina Grosse works on the walls, floor and ceiling of a space using her spray gun and extends her painterly reach to the public space of nature and the street. Her works on canvas and paper thus appear as fragments from a larger whole, a limitless conception of painting as action in the world.

Additionally, a pattern elevates space and perspective to motif, because it can have the depth of an illusionistic representation, or keep the eye arrested on the surface. The work of Tomma Abts is situated precisely in this balance between space and surface. Her "hybrid abstractions" are created through a long process of superimposing layers of paint and persistent reconsideration. Toba Khedoori also demonstrates that a painting can simultaneously create an illusion of depth and remain a flat, two-dimensional surface. Fine cracks in the paper of her large format works lend the delicate drawings the quality of real space. The bright backgrounds, however, coated with wax, remain flat.

The ‘samplings' in this exhibition are not limited to formal fictions. Some images open up concrete narrative spaces in which figures act, express an inner state, or in which objects are related to certain events. Finally, the works unite under the concept of a search for identity. This includes the colorful paintings of Michael Buthe, composed of figurative motifs, characters and symbols - works that draw their strength from the elemental magic of things (In the Age of Pisces, 1988). With playful impulses and imaginative combinations, the artists transform proliferation and overload into an artistic principle and combine an awareness of individual cultural identity with an openness to others.

The exhibition is on view at Haus der Kunst from July 25 through February 14, 2016.