FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ALBERT OEHLEN

“refuse, light and a joke invented in drunkenness”

January 16 – February 27, 1999

Luhring Augustine is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of Albert Oehlen from January 16 through February 27.  The poetic title of the exhibition “refuse, light and a joke invented in drunkenness,” in Oehlen’s words, “describes precisely, what one gets to see in the show.”

Albert Oehlen’s show, comprised of eleven new paintings, will depart from the direction of his 1996 exhibition at our SoHo space.  Unlike his last show which featured computer generated, mixed media works on canvas, “refuse, light and a joke invented in drunkenness” returns to hand-painted, instances of abstract expressionism.  Oehlen confidently uses an almost unlimited palette; colors as bold as fluorescent yellow are seamlessly integrated with muted tones.  In this exhibition Oehlen proves that he is also equally comfortable limiting his use of color to black and white.  Dark swimming backgrounds, punctuated by moments of definition, create tension between the painting field and the canvas surface.  As images emerge from the gestural renderings on the canvas, the viewer is thrown into a confusing reality that mimics the effects of being intoxicated.

Albert Oehlen divides his time between Köln, Germany and La Palma, one of the Canary Islands.  Oehlen has exhibited widely and has had significant solo shows at The Renaissance Society, Chicago, the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, IVAM Centre de Carme, Valencia, and Kunsthalle Basel.  Oehlen has published several artist monographs, which will also be available at the time of the exhibition.

For further information, please contact Claudia Altman-Siegel at (212) 206-9100.