Josef Albers (1888–1976) is considered one of the most influential abstract painters of the twentieth century as well as an important designer and educator. Born in Bottrop, Germany, Albers studied briefly at the Königliche Bayerische Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich, in 1919 before becoming a student at the Weimar Bauhaus in 1920. In 1922, Albers joined the school’s faculty, first working in stained glass and, starting in 1923, teaching design. During his time at Black Mountain College, Albers began to show his work extensively within the United States.
David Zwirner is pleased to present Paintings Titled Variants, an exhibition of work by Josef Albers on view at the gallery’s London location. Organized in collaboration with The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, this exhibition focuses on Albers’s breakthrough Variant/Adobe series, a body of work that was inspired, in part, by the art, architecture, and landscapes that Albers observed during his numerous visits to Mexico and the American Southwest. The exhibition follows Josef Albers: Homage to the Square, a major 2022–2023 solo exhibition of the artist’s work at the Josef Albers Museum Quadrat Bottrop, Germany. Paintings Titled Variants is presented in tandem with Black Mountain College: The Experimenters. On view in The Upper Room of the London gallery, this exhibition features additional works by Albers as well as several of his colleagues and students from the famed titular school.
Titled after the first exhibition of the Variant/Adobe paintings at Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, in 1949, Paintings Titled Variants features a range of works from this series, including compositions on Masonite as well as on blotting paper. With their vivid color palettes, the paintings reflect Albers’s keen and studied sensitivity to and interest in opticality, as well as the way in which the relationship between different colors dramatically impacts the appearance and experience of the work.
The show runs from 28 February to 15 April 2023. For further information on the exhibition visit the gallery’s website.
Image-Josef Albers, Browns, Ochre, Yellow, 1948 © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Courtesy The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and David Zwirner
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