Drill hall gallery

‘My work explores what it means to paint’ – Karl Wiebke

Karl Wiebke is one of Australia’s leading abstract painters.   Born in Germany, Wiebke trained in Hamburg alongside significant artists such as Sigmar Polke.  These formative years led Wiebke to focus on Tafelbild (panel) painting in which the conceptual and material elements of painting were questioned.  Since relocating to Australia in 1981 Wiebke has exhibited extensively and is recognised as one of the leading practitioners of concrete art in this country.

Karl Wiebke Painting 1994 - 2012 will be officially opened by the renowned artist John Peart
on Thursday 12 April 2012 at 6 pm.  The exhibition will run from 7 April – 20 May 2012.

For Wiebke, the process of painting is very much the subject of his art: ‘I am a painter reducing my means to the ground, the paint and the instrument’ he states. His is art in which the relationship between artist and materials is particularly intimate, affected by process, time and deliberation.

This survey exhibition focuses on Wiebke’s painting since 1994, presenting series of works in which the artist has set up different processes to explore the nature of painting itself, teasing out the properties and possibilities of the medium. The earliest works in the exhibition are heavily layered paint drips that have been applied over a period of several years to accrete a thickness that makes them manifestly three dimensional. These paintings were produced outdoors so that weather events such as rain drops and sun bleaching could leave evidence of the passing of time on their substance.

With his series of grids from 2003-2005 Wiebke’s procedure was to weave a painted surface with lines in a single colour on a monochrome ground, methodically applying a fine line that ultimately alters our perception of the ground. Wiebke’s more recent works, on large rings and fine rods, further push the boundaries of traditional painting practice, inviting the viewer to include a spatial context into their reading of the work.

Karl Wiebke will present a floortalk about the works in the exhibition at 12 noon on Friday 13 April 2012.

The exhibition has been curated by Tony Oates, Exhibition Officer, ANU Drill Hall Gallery.

WHAT: Opening of KARL WIEBKE PAINTING 1994 - 2012 exhibition
WHEN: 6pm, Thursday 12 April 2012
WHERE: Drill Hall Gallery, Kingsley Street (off Barry Drive), ANU
.