In Paris a user guide to introduce the last David Ostrowski’s monologue

 

As many collectors may have noticed the last solo exhibition of David Ostrowski opened ten days ago at Almine Reich gallery in Paris (until 19 April). This new body of works marks just a half-step forward in his art practice, that has become certainly more relaxed since his solo show at Simon Lee gallery last November, and in line with the three big canvases presented at Oko gallery in New York two weeks ago. It is a matter of fact that Ostrowski is keeping his style very coherent and self-centered. Also this time the introductory text plays a key role.

 

While at Simon Lee the exhibition was introduced by an effective artist’s interview run by a film director revealing Ostrowski personality as an artist, here the text is by the art critic Nicolas Trembley. With the approach of an art historian, Trembley meticulously describes the evolution of Ostrowski’s art practice from figuration to abstraction. He also explains the way the artist uses colors and signs, and analyzes the meaning of the letter F that titles the series to which the artworks on show belong: F like failure, floor, flying, foot, frame, farbe (the German term for color)… Of course the “user guide” could also be applied to the works that are not on show, like this one we have spotted in a private collection.

July 18, 2015