UDO NÖGER
UDO NÖGER
LIKE THE OCEAN LIKE THE SEA SUNDARAM TAGORE GALLERY CHELSEA JUNE 9 – JULY 9, 2022
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LIKE THE OCEAN LIKE THE SEA We are pleased to present new, luminous monochrome paintings that capture light, movement and energy expressed in highly minimalistic compositions by Udo Nöger. The artist’s work is in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver; and the Art Institute of Chicago. Nöger (b. 1961), who grew up in Enger, in Westphalia, Germany, emigrated to the U.S. in 1990. In the early part of his career, he was known for his expressive figurative paintings exploring the dimensionality of color. These raw, layered, mixed-media works were often populated by mysterious, archaic figures and symbolically charged imagery inspired by his travels. One such trip was to the South Pacific, where Nöger encountered ancient Rongorongo writings; a series of elemental glyphs composed of animals, figures and symbols used by the people of Easter Island centuries ago. Over time, he began to incorporate this ancient iconography into his work, eventually creating his own pictorial language, which gradually became more abstract and more minimal. At the same time, Nöger began to distill and refine his palette of dark, earthy hues until color began to disappear altogether.
By the mid-nineties, Nöger began to focus exclusively on the interaction of light, space and color, moving away from his aggressive, figurative style in favor of a minimal aesthetic. He began cutting holes in his canvases, literally eliminating anything extraneous. His desire to delve inside the canvas in order to amplify light prompted him to develop techniques to reveal what lies beneath the surface, both materially and conceptually. Nöger experimented with paper at first, creating translucency with mineral oil to see the effects of light on pigment applied to the underside of paper. He then took the idea further, developing a technique that enabled him not just to cut holes or slash the surface of his canvases, but to cut shapes beneath the surface, in order to capture, transform and reflect light, seemingly from inside the paintings. What distinguishes Nöger from other artists whose work is based on light is that he engages light itself as a medium.
Left: But there is Day and Night 1, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 61 x 192 inches/155 x 488 cm
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ARTISTIC PROCESS To produce works that appear to emanate light from within, Nöger employs an almost architectural approach. The paintings comprise three layers of canvas mounted on stretchers set at a distance from one another. The interior canvas, from which the artist cuts out simplified biomorphic forms, functions as the pictorial plane. Once the internal composition is complete, the outermost surface is treated with mineral oil to amplify translucency and bring the composition, cocooned inside the painting, to the forefront. The resulting works are subtle and subtly affected by the surrounding atmosphere. The type of light, quality of light, even the time of day can impact the viewing experience. While the paintings are rendered in a restrained palette of soft whites and grays, depending on the light that illuminates the work, faint shades of blue, purple and green can emerge. Nöger’s endeavor to eliminate visual clutter leaves only the essential elements required to convey information—light, space and form. In doing so, the artist provides a unique sensory experience, one in which the intangible becomes material, but what is visible is merely an illusion. This exhibition of new works on canvas is accompanied by a series of charcoal drawings on wood. Primitive and elemental in style and substance, they exemplify the artist’s desire to reduce expression to its purest form. 6
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Geöffnete Landschaft, 2021, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 88 inches/183 x 224 cm
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Like the Ocean Like the Sea, 2021, mixed media on canvas, 88 x 72 inches/224 x 183 cm
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Drive 5, 6, 7 and 2, 2022, mixed media on canvas, 36 x 33 inches/91.4 x 83.8 cm each 14
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There is no left, there is no right 1, 2021, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 88 inches/183 x 224 cm
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But there is Day and Night 1, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 61 x 192 inches/155 x 488 cm 20
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Innen 39, 2016, mixed media on canvas, 27 x 25 inches/68.6 x 63.5 cm 22
Kleine Landschaft 2, 2020, mixed media on canvas, 28 x 25 inches/71.1 x 63.5 cm 23
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Innen, 2005, mixed media on canvas, 27 x 24 inches/68.6 x 61 cm 26
Opened Head, 2004, mixed media on canvas, 27 x 24 inches/68.6 x 61 cm 27
There is no time 10, 2021, mixed media on canvas, 56 x 40 inches/142.2 x 101.6 cm
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22 hours in dreams series, 2022, charcoal on wood, dimensions vary 31
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ABOUT UDO NÖGER Udo Nöger (b. 1961) grew up in Enger, Westfalen, Germany. He has exhibited extensively across the globe, including at Siegerlandmuseum, Siegen, and the Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, Germany; Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Missouri; Museum of Art Honolulu, Hawaii; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, Colorado. His work is in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver; Art Institute of Chicago; Bass Museum, Miami; and Haus der Kunst, Munich, among others.
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S U N DA R A M TAG O R E G ALLE R I E S We have been representing established and emerging artists from around the world since 2000. We champion work that is aesthetically and intellectually rigorous, infused with humanism and art historically significant. We specialize in paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations with a strong emphasis on materiality. Our artists cross cultural and national boundaries, synthesizing Western visual language with forms, techniques and philosophies from Asia, the Subcontinent and the Middle East. We show this work alongside important work by overlooked women from the New York School. The gallery also has a robust photography program that includes some of the world’s most noted photographers.
N EW YOR K Chelsea: 542 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001 • tel 212 677 4520 gallery@sundaramtagore.com
SI NGAPOR E 5 Lock Road 01-05, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 singapore@sundaramtagore.com
LON DON 4 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JE President and curator: Sundaram Tagore Senior Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey Director, Singapore: Melanie Taylor Director, New York: Kathryn McSweeney Registrar: Julia Occhiogrosso Designer: Russell Whitehead Editorial support: Kieran Doherty
WWW.SU N DARAMTAGOR E.COM Text © 2022 Sundaram Tagore Gallery Photographs © 2022 Udo Nöger All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Cover: There is no left, there is no right 1 (detail), 2021, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 88 inches/183 x 224 cm