Christopher Wool, Simon Lee Gallery, London

Christopher Wool
Simon Lee Gallery, London
October 11 - December 22, 2006

Simon Lee presents new painting and works on paper by Christopher Wool.

Christopher Wool has punctuated the art world with works that have reinvigorated recent contemporary debate on the changing status of painting. He belongs to a generation of artists (Robert Gober, Jeff Koons and Richard Prince) who in the early 1980s were looking for new possibilities in painting and sculpture. Within his particular oeuvre, Christopher Wool has transposed elements from mass culture such as print media, advertising, music and film as a means to create a collision between painting and printing.

The processes of painting, the physical properties of paint and techniques of reproduction underpin Christopher Wool’s practice. Crucial to Wool is his impulse to exploit the limits of painting. In previous works he has used a plethora of media comprising aluminium, silkscreen, varnish, photography, paint rollers and stencils with industrial procedures and techniques made available by mass production. Wool used these procedures in combination with painting to play with the ideas and techniques of reproduction.

For Christopher Wool’s current body of work he employs silkscreen and spray paint that is meticulously built up and then partly removed. Wool has returned to painting in a reductive format to emphasis elements of painting and erasure, gesture and removal, depth and flatness. Chiefly using black spray enamel Wool draws out the tensions that are at play with form, line and colour. The action and erasure that become apparent highlight Wool’s unique form of mark making on the picture plane. By spraying the canvas, retracing the line with solvent, blending and then erasing the line of spray paint Wool maps out and retraces his line across the canvas. Wool’s medium of choice makes reference to the urban environment and graffiti, however the works sidestep hasty interpretation and the surface qualities allow the viewer focus on the retinal impact of the paintings.

Christopher Wool's work has been featured in numerous exhibitions including, most recently; Christopher Wool, Institut Valencia d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain (2006), Christopher Wool, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France (2006), William Gedney-Christopher Wool: Into the Night, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island (2004), Christopher Wool, Camden Arts Centre, London (2004), Lyon Biennial of Contemporary Art, Lyon (2003), Crosstown Crosstown, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee / Le Consortium, Dijon (2003 / 2002) and Secession, Vienna (2001).

SIMON LEE GALLERY
12 Berkeley Street, London W1J 8DT
www.simonleegallery.com