Frank Nitsche at Leo Koenig - New York - Brief Article

Frank Nitsche's large-scale abstractions are collisions of contours and color fields. The six dramatic paintings in this New York solo debut, titled "Winterorbit," by the Berlin artist resonate with complex intersections of line and pattern. His clean palette, ranging from neutral grays and taupes to periwinkle blues and acidic greens, is indicative of a painter whose color choices are as well planned as his compositions.

Layered shapes, outlined in black, burgundy or pink, imitate the forms of architecture and industrial design. The viewer is drawn in, seduced by the possibility of finding recognizable images within the forms. Yet each shape breaks down, offering no useful clue to its referent, and dissolves into angles and painterly finesse like a perfectly planned accident. The works have crisp flat edges and are cryptically labeled with serial numbers rather than titles.

If Nitsche's subject matter is not always obvious, his process is clear. Neon pink spray paint on bare canvas peeks through the brushwork of BGY-06-2002, showing the history of the work's making. At some point, it was rotated 90 degrees, allowing drips to flow horizontally. In GLP-26-2001, pink, green and red outlines silhouette shapes within a field of light greenish gray. The intricate overlapping of the forms creates a shallow, compressed space.

A large section of bubblegum pink covers much of the central section of BAB-02-2002. Peeking from behind the pink shape are underpainted layers of taupe and gray. One surprising lone strip of brilliant fuchsia provides a resting place in the otherwise active surface.

His private albums of collages made from magazine clippings provide the impetus for Nitsche's abstractions. He combines pictures of flight paths, sporting equipment, bullet casings and product designs into formal compositions. He does not translate these sources directly into paint; rather, the resulting esthetic of arbitrary shapes and forms is the inspiration for the paintings. Nitsche's works are a celebration of what painting is still able to do in the midst of a mediated culture.

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