Maria Lassnig
CAPITAIN PETZEL
Karl-Marx-Allee 45
April 26–June 18
Maria Lassnig, Mann, Frau und Hund (Man, Woman, and Dog), 2010, oil on canvas, 59 x 82 1/2."
The scenes in Maria Lassnig’s paintings depict physical discomfort and friction but are rendered in a palette of bright hues that cause each to seem strikingly jocund. This ambiguity makes these works intriguing—attractive and unpleasant at the same time. Eight paintings, five of them from the past three years, are now on display in Lassnig’s debut at Capitain Petzel. Most of them take up the body, a motif that has preoccupied the artist since the beginning of her career.
Mann, Frau und Hund (Man, Woman, and Dog), 2011, shows a man and woman; their naked bodies almost touch and it seems they are on the verge of kissing. Lassnig makes the bodies glow through a tonal build up of color from dark brown over purple to white. Through the explicit contours, the individuals each seem surrounded by an almost Munch-like atmosphere of isolation in space. A line divides the painting in two parts and opposite the couple is a big dog with sad eyes—he lays on the ground, illuminated in a golden haze. His dominant presence underlines the melancholy within the scene, putting the couple in a second, imaginary plane of the painting.
Lassnig paints her scenes in quick and expressive gestures, juxtaposing her delicate, precise use of color. In Raketenbasis – Missiles 1 and 2, 1989, a field of missiles, grenades, and tanks is grouped in more or less horizontal lines. This is the only older work in the show and is reminiscent of neo-expressionism and the better years of Markus Lüpertz. Color plays a distinctive role in counterbalancing the mood created by the military motif. In small details and single lines a whole palette is at hand, creating an immersive sense of polyphony.