AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

The problem with abstract paintings, and perhaps the main reason for their decline in contemporary society, is that they appear closely aligned with decorative escapism, at the expense of probing investigation (MacAdam 3). The works of Tomma Abts, which depict ambiguous abstract forms in acrylic and oil paint, trouble this widely held critique. Her precisely painted and modestly sized images resist categorization as either biomorphic or geometric. Veeke (2006) appears, at first, to be a resolutely geometric study. On a predominantly grey-green base, colourful and repeated interlocking lines converge to create irregular zigzags. These thin streaking bands of continuously shifting hues revert back on themselves in a linear pattern, creating strange, asymmetrical shadows. The intriguing mid-grey shadows cast doubt on the flatness of the seemingly even grey-green base. Upon closer inspection, ridges in the canvas reveal underlying layers of paint, further troubling initial readings of the work as two-dimensional. The visible remnants of previous workings inform a complex interplay between the painting’s physical canvas surface, and the form that it depicts. In its spatial ambiguity, Veeke shares with Abt’s wider oeuvre a shrewd interrogation of the process of painting (Kritzer 76).

Spatial uncertainty is also evident in the artist’s life. Born in Kiel, Germany in 1967, Abts has lived in London since 1995 (Zullo 2008), yet feels no palpable sense of kinship with either the German or British artists with whom she exhibited alongside (Falconer 2006). While Abts maintains that she was not part of the ‘Young British Artists’ scene that escalated around the time she moved to London on a grant, she shares with the likes of Chris Ofili and Peter Doig a devotion to the medium of paint (Camhi 194). As for the associations to abstract art in her paintings, Abts reflects that the beauty of form has long interested her, since studying filmmaking at university in Berlin and creating experimental shorts composed of “just lines and space” (Falconer 2006). By the time she was awarded the Turner Prize in 2006, Abt’s distinctive process of intuitively creating forms with minimal representation had solidified.

Indeed, the avoidance of any hint of representation or clear connection to identifiable objects is a distinguishing feature of Abt’s works. Her colour palette is both muted and vivid, with individual shades that defy traditional names (Camhi 196). Similarly, the illogical contours and highlights in works such as Veeke, Kobo (1999), Welf (2001), Lübbe (2005) suggest that Abts is concerned with the ways in which representation can work and be reworked. This element of abstraction is present, even as it is constantly undermined and reconfigured by the spatial depth that is simultaneously implied and negated. Alexander Scrimgeour notes that this allows Abts’ work to “[transcend] the dichotomy of illusionism and surface by allowing the contradictions between them to enrich and play off one another, producing an unusual, intellectually won yet emotionally charged perceptual experience” (459). This observation is an insightful one, for it underscores the emotions inherent in what have often been deemed “restrained”, “unassuming”, “reserved” and even “insolent” paintings (Camhi 198, Schwabsky and Breuvart 11, cited in Zullo 2008, Kritzer 15).

Given, an emotional core is not at once apparent due to the very methodical process Abts undertakes over the course of months or even years in order to produce each 48 x 38 cm piece. This composition process, based on layering different sections of paint, treads a fine and curious line between rationality and intuition. As Abts explains, the origins of her paintings begin with “a very vague idea…or even no idea” (Falconer 2006). This instinctive way of working towards constructing forms hints at the underlying impetus of Abts’ works – one rooted in emotion and expression, despite being executed in a very precise manner. Because she develops the paintings without preconceptions of the end result, Abts tries to define the forms exactly. She asserts, “They become, through the shadows, texture, etc., quite physical, and therefore ‘real’ and not an image of something else…they represent themselves” (Zullo 2008). Thus Abts’ paintings can, and have been, likened to individual portraits, due to the uniquely painted traits, vertical composition on canvas, and titles originating from German first names (Dziewior 19).

In Leeko (2009), three concentric arcs are coupled with lines and arranged vertically along the centre from smallest to largest. Where they converge, the sensory perception is one of depth, as is the initial reaction in Veeke and most other Abts’ paintings. However, abstract motifs here give the illusion of three-dimensionality in a way that is almost unsettling in its’ starkness. Abts’ ability to manipulate the viewer’s gaze is more striking in this Leeko than in the earlier Veeke. This may be attributed in part to the more conspicuous juxtaposition between the lemon yellow bands and dull green arcs, and the division of the base colours into light and dark shades of mustard-khaki. Jens Asthoff noted that the “shallow, illusory depth” in Leeko looked as if it had been created using layered sheets of coloured paper, rather than paint (214). In addition, the incongruous perspective leads the eye both downwards and to the centre of the work. This creates a sensation of movement, which perturbs the eye as it moves back and forth between the overlapping yet integrated images. The effect of Leeko is arresting. Its exploration of space, density and movement exemplifies Abts’ recent shift towards creating works that not only straddle notions of figurative representation and abstraction, but seek to shatter this dichotomy.

In the present contemporary art climate where attitudes, practices and processes are constantly shifting, the implacably precise works of Tomma Abts continue to find appeal and resonance among audiences who value the intriguing way they question the notion of representation. The seemingly mundane surface of the canvas is revolutionised through Abts’ deft application of layers of paint which problematise space, and in more recent works, illuminate the complexities of illusory movement, not unlike her early experimental films. Abts’ alchemically transformed abstract works undeniably deceive the eye and excite the mind with a rare and relished intensity.  

Bibliography

Asthoff, Jens. "Tomma Abts: GALERIE GITI NOURBAKHSCH." Artforum International 48.6 (2010): 213 - 217. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Oct. 2011.

Camhi, Leslie. "True To Form." Vogue Apr. 2008: 198.4. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.

Dziewior, Yilmaz. Formalism: Modern Art Today. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2005. Print.

Falconer, Morgan. “The triumph of Eerke, Juerke and Veeke”. Sign and Sight. 05 Dec. 2006. Web.  10 Oct. 2011.

Kritzer, J. “A little gathering” Masters research thesis. University of Melbourne, 2010. Print.

MacAdam, Barbara.“The New Abstraction.” ATM Gallery: Art News. April.  2007. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.

Schwabsky, Barry, and Valerie Breuvart. Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting. London: Phaidon, 2002. Print.

Scrimgeour, Alexander. “Tomma Abts: NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART”. Artforum International, Sept, 2008, Vol.47(1), p.458(2)

Wilson, A. “Practising uncertainty in search of something strangely attractive: An inquiry into the mechanics of a painter during the practice and viewing of painting”. Exegesis. Unitec New Zealand, 2010. Print. 

Zullo, D. “Biographical Summary - Tomma Abts.” Crown Point Press. 2008. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.