ROMs | lou jaworski and michael venezia

The work AIRLINES is a multi-component floor installation consisting of two steel grids and corresponding magnetic objects. Lou Jaworski uses the grid to expand the exhibition space by an additional level. AIRLINES explores the linear relationships between objects in space and their relationship to the viewer's location. The work almost seems to float, at the same time referring to the microcosm as well as to the macrocosm: on the one hand, the structure appears like an enlargement and visualization of energetic fields normally imperceptible to humans; on the other hand, AIRLINES is reminiscent of an architectural landscape from a bird's eye perspective, in which the individual elements are placed in strict order to one another. The grid, a recurring base element in Jaworski's work, becomes a space to be experienced, reminiscent of digital renderings, but also a means to order individual sculptural elements.

Photo: Lou Jaworski

Work A consists of splintered ferrite magnets that, due to their physical properties, arrange themselves independently and join together to form a sculpture. Jaworski partially transfers the role of the artist as a formative force to the material, thereby questioning the meaning of the creative act. The material autonomy can be described as a form of ephemeral abstraction, as the sculpture will most likely never assume the exact same shape again. The smallest changes can influence the magnetic fields and align them in different formations. The individual parts can be independently rearranged and regrouped. This creates familiar patterns often reminiscent of organic material. At first glance, the original geometric and synthetic shapes of the magnets are barely recognizable. A stands in contrast to Jaworski's strictly arranged works, such as Y SKY and I, illustrating the transformability of surface and effect of Ferrite magnets.

Photo: Dirk Tacke

Michael Venezia's spray paintings on paper, which were created in the early 1970s, are among the rare works on paper created by Venezia and have a more experimental character in comparison to the canvases. Beyond their visual quality, they represent the study of the spraying process, the angle of impact, the duration of spraying and the formation of form, in order to analyze the irrationality and variability of this application of paint. The picture surface is treated as a whole with grid-like experimental arrangements of individual spray impacts, some of which are marked with numbers and markings. In these irregular structures, Venezia explores the theme of repetition and proportionality of the spray markings to each other. In his notes "Model and Memory" from around 1975 he explains how the imitation, or rather instinctive reproduction, of an always identical spray technique is at the center of these experiments on the same sheet of paper. The different results of the sprayed application of paint again illustrate the autonomy of this technique and the experimental character of these works on paper.

The paper work MVNY #700 (1970) shows the independence of the material and technique used: despite the symmetrical and grid-like arrangement in a 3 x 4 grid, the respective spray bursts differ from one another, as it is not possible to control and precisely repeat the application angle and duration of the spray.

Photo: Dirk Tacke

In the mural Y SKY, the dark, monochrome surface of sequenced ferrite magnets creates a painterly effect reminiscent of the Color Field Painting of the 1950s. On the one hand, the density of the material creates a pulling, matt depth that draws the eye to the fine structures created by the cutting process of the individual panels. On the other hand, the surface simultaneously reflects the light of the surrounding space. Depending on the incidence of light and the viewer’s perspective, the homogeneous material unfolds different color nuances and shades of blue and gray. Through the arrangement of the individual plates, Jaworski references the grid system, as with AIRLINES, JUNE and SUNDAY, which can be infinitely extended and is visible here in a minimalist monochrome color. By lining up the tiles, the focus in Y SKY is laid on the inherent nature of the iron oxide ferrite magnets. Instead of an image, an object, a figuration, the pure material quality, freely unfolding in its depth and stimulating contemplation about perspectives, spatial perception and the cosmos, is brought to the center of attention.

Photo: Dirk Tacke

In his offset print SUNDAY on newsprint, Lou Jaworski reflects intensively on the mechanisms of perception, grid structures and the definition of the term “image”. In the newspaper printing method used in halftone raster, the impression of color tone values and gray levels of images is achieved through a specific arrangement of raster points. Jaworski uses this process to create a gradient from dark to light on the New York Times paper. In it, the distances between the small black dots to the center of the picture increase until the arrangement is reversed, and the white spaces become dots. This creates a moirée effect, an optical interference in which two grids overlap and the image begins to flicker. Upon closer inspection, this structure appears abstract and synthetic, while from a distance a uniform overall picture emerges. The course of the pressure points - which can suggest light and shadow - creates a hinted horizonal line, leading the viewer to habitually read the work as a landscape picture. Jaworski questions with SUNDAY the classic concept of the picture by making the technical requirements of the picture into its actual content, thus quoting the genre of the landscape picture in an abstract way.

Photo: Dirk Tacke