Paris, 1984

Albert White Gallery, Toronto Canadian Corporate Collection

A.R. Penck’s interest in exploring the tension between the real world and abstraction is also undeniable in this etching. A towering orange figure, with a single eye and a distended hand stretching upwards, dominates the left edge of the composition. While the outer edges have been covered in shades of green and black, the center has been left largely bare. Interestingly, a distorted face appears to be floating over a flat triangle and a three-dimensional square. Penck successfully created a complex visual landscape by combining humanoid shapes, disjointed eyes and various distorted symbols to push the boundaries of art. This work exemplifies the stylistic shift in Penck’s oeuvre following his expatriation from the German Democratic Republic and his move to the West in 1980, with the artist now beginning to adopt colours and three-dimensionality. Using various aliases, Penck was able to smuggle paintings to the West in 1969 with the help of Michael Werner, a gallerist in Cologne, whom the artist would work with until he passed away in 2017. His works were featured in numerous solo exhibitions at major museums and he participated on several occasions in Documenta in Kassel, Germany, and in the 41st Venice Biennale held in 1984.