Fabian Oefner`s new work, “Photographic Paintings” moves within the realms of painting and photography. As in previous works like “Disintegrating“ or “Paint in Motion“ the artist explores the possibilities and limits of photography.
When looking at the prints from a distance, one could define the works as paintings. The compositions distantly resemble Mark Rothko’s nebulous rectangles or Clifford Still’s large, monochromatic fields of color. Delicate gradients seem to have been painted effortlessly across the canvas with subtle brush stroke structures being added into the expanses of paint. However, when looking at the work up-close, one discovers various clues, that define it as photograph: Certain structures appear unsharp, indicating the technical origin of the piece. Furthermore, the texture of the paint has a characteristic graininess, as it is common in very large prints. And there is a faint smell of baryta coming from the print, a chemical used in high quality photographic papers.
