10 current works by Jakob Gasteiger - oil on paper!
Jakob Gasteiger does not use a traditional brush when he paints his pictures. His tool is a kind of comb: made from cardboard, he draws it over the canvas and leaves the colour behind as a grooved trace. Each of these combs represents a picture. "The combs I use are an anonymous tool, they allow me to work without a 'personal signature'."
This approach, as well as the result of the paintings, illuminates a conceptual-minimalist aspect of painting. The paint is not applied to the support gesturally, expressively and supposedly with a recognisable handwriting, no, it is removed in an anonymous mechanical act of painting, the gesture takes place solely in the movement of the comb and does not reveal the painter's expression behind it.
In his latest series ‘Oil on paper’, the painting tool - the comb - remains recognisable. Together with the trace, it forms the surface of the picture. Reduced in colour and trajectory, the artist merely draws individual strokes across the handmade paper. The works are reminiscent of the deep black works of Richard Serra - minimalist and heavy. The oil colour penetrates the paper and leaves a typically oily trace at the edges during the drying process. Even if Serra superimposes several layers in his works or compresses the surface more, the following quote from Serra can be perfectly applied to Gasteiger's works exhibited at the Bechter Kastowsky Gallery:
«The use of black is the clearest method of making a mark against a white surface. It is also the clearest method of labelling something without triggering associations. Black is a characteristic, not a property. Understood as a weight, black is heavier, creates a larger volume and can be compressed to a surface in a field.»
And it is precisely this compression that Gasteiger also achieves: by means of his so-called comb spatula.
