lot 188 — Adam Helms, Rorschach Group no. 9 (The Daily Practice Of Painting) (2021)
unsold in slot Unsere kleine Insel in auction Chapter 2Concluded. 2021/8/28, 3 pm to 6 pm
Concluded. 2021/8/28, 3 pm to 6 pm
auction finished. artworks are no longer visible for licensing reasons.
unsold
In Rorschach Group no.9––an element of an ongoing series: “The Daily Practice Of Painting”––the artist presents and arrangement of three similarly executed Rorschach or ‘doubled’ pieces. Each overlaying images from the artist’s archive of both his own photos as
well as source material. In this form ink jet prints, intended as reference images to be pinned to the wall around the area in which larger paintings on canvas are made. Over the course of the past year (The Plague Year of 2020, as the artist calls it), the continued hermetic time in studio inevitably lead to accidents and intervals of experimentation to help break the any creeping monotony. After knocking a small notebook onto a pallet full of freshly mixed paint, the book closed after peeling it out of the wet paint, and a Rorschach-like image appeared upon inspection of the sullied pages.
According to the artist: “The small painting that was imprinted upon the pages after being flattened together looked like an almost perfect image, a “perfect painting” in its symmetry and form. Shapes and colors produced by a process with no predictable outcome as far as the final image would appear, almost of its own accord in a sense. It reminded me of the symmetry in everything from Tibetan Mandala paintings, symbols and psychedelic esthetics, the masks of Animist cultures and of course the psychological tests as much as the anthropomorphism I was seeing in the eyes and faces which appeared to me. It then occurred to me that I could attempt, on a daily basis, to produce a ‘perfect’ painting each day, on the more ephemeral materials I had around me in the studio. Utilizing abject surfaces and small pieces of paper as attempts at making the ‘perfect painting’ revels in the spirit of the satirical, and this I wanted to make it an
essential part my daily practice in the studio.”
In Group no.9, these three particular inkjet prints are appropriated images from the artist’s archive.
The central panel is a mask-like anthropomorphized Wasp Nest, hanging from a tree.The upper and lower panels are of groups of special forces soldiers posing together––their faces redacted––taken during the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
where and how to bis
You can bid directly here on the website (see above), live at the location of the auction in Berlin, vie our partner lot-tissimo, in writing using our bidding form or by phone after arranging it with the auctioneer.
| minimum price | 2.400 € |
| size | 62.5 x 53 cm | |
| edition | Unique | |
| signature | Signed | |
| frame | Framed | |
| condition | Flawless | |
| technique | Oil on ink jet prints in artist frame |
In Rorschach Group no.9––an element of an ongoing series: “The Daily Practice Of Painting”––the artist presents and arrangement of three similarly executed Rorschach or ‘doubled’ pieces. Each overlaying images from the artist’s archive of both his own photos as
well as source material. In this form ink jet prints, intended as reference images to be pinned to the wall around the area in which larger paintings on canvas are made. Over the course of the past year (The Plague Year of 2020, as the artist calls it), the continued hermetic time in studio inevitably lead to accidents and intervals of experimentation to help break the any creeping monotony. After knocking a small notebook onto a pallet full of freshly mixed paint, the book closed after peeling it out of the wet paint, and a Rorschach-like image appeared upon inspection of the sullied pages.
According to the artist: “The small painting that was imprinted upon the pages after being flattened together looked like an almost perfect image, a “perfect painting” in its symmetry and form. Shapes and colors produced by a process with no predictable outcome as far as the final image would appear, almost of its own accord in a sense. It reminded me of the symmetry in everything from Tibetan Mandala paintings, symbols and psychedelic esthetics, the masks of Animist cultures and of course the psychological tests as much as the anthropomorphism I was seeing in the eyes and faces which appeared to me. It then occurred to me that I could attempt, on a daily basis, to produce a ‘perfect’ painting each day, on the more ephemeral materials I had around me in the studio. Utilizing abject surfaces and small pieces of paper as attempts at making the ‘perfect painting’ revels in the spirit of the satirical, and this I wanted to make it an
essential part my daily practice in the studio.”
In Group no.9, these three particular inkjet prints are appropriated images from the artist’s archive.
The central panel is a mask-like anthropomorphized Wasp Nest, hanging from a tree.The upper and lower panels are of groups of special forces soldiers posing together––their faces redacted––taken during the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
where and how to bis
You can bid directly here on the website (see above), live at the location of the auction in Berlin, vie our partner lot-tissimo, in writing using our bidding form or by phone after arranging it with the auctioneer.