Tomma Abts

Winner of the Turner Prize 2006
Shortlisted for her solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland, and greengrassi, London, that revealed her rigorous and consistent approach to painting. Through her intimate and compelling canvases she builds on and enriches the language of abstract painting…

Gallery

The abstract paintings by Tomma Abts (born 1967) are created as a result of a long process. The strict geometric compositions of the works do not refer to things seen, but develop from the generative logic of the multiple layers of paint.

In an era when artists regularly borrow from the scale and the intent of cinema and outdoor advertising, Tomma Abts’ decision to make small paintings seems against the grain and entirely personal…

Die deutsche Künstlerin Tomma Abts (*1967, lebt und arbeitet in London, Gewinnerin des Turner Prizes 2006) malt seit Ende der 90er Jahre kleinformatige, abstrakte Acryl- und Ölbilder, die einer strengen Konzeption folgen. Alle Bilder haben ein vertikales Format, eine einheitliche Grösse (38 × 48 cm) und zeigen klar gezogene, oft geometrische Formen…

Collection SFMOMA, keywords: abstract, red, lines, stars, sections.

There is something peculiar about these paintings. Cautious little rectangles of canvas with their chalky colours and lifeless forms, at first they seem to have been painted by someone who has never actually seen any art, but has read about it avidly in a second-hand text book whose illustrations have all been removed. It is as if descriptions of Kandinkys, El Lissitzkys, Moholy-Nagys, and van Doesburgs have merged into a single vision and then been optimistically and obsessively regurgitated in oil paint. If Tomma Abts had spent her life painting in an attic in some grey city of the former Eastern Bloc it would be understandable, touching in its perfect misconception; it would be too good to be true…