OLAF BREUNING

Michael Benevento is pleased to present an exhibition of recent photographs and sculptures by Olaf Breuning. This is the artists first solo show in Los Angeles.

The Swiss-born, New York based artist presents a continuation of his recent series, Color Studies, incorporating large photographs and sculptures that focus on the action and resolution of poured paint. With a physical transformation of the gallery space, the figures, objects and actions within the photographs, as well as the sculptures, become the backdrop for a celebration of the unpredictable movement of paint.

With the entrance and first gallery painted entirely in black – the absence of color, Breuning sculptures both blend and contrast with the space.  Breuning adds his own background in the form of three all-black sculptures on which red, yellow, green, and blue paint is carefully poured.  This combination creates a tension between the material of the sculpture and the natural tendencies of the paint. In addition to the sculptures, there are eight photographs in the room, which present a competition between background and foreground with the same primary colors of paint poured over different figures and objects ranging from the high-art throwback, The Odalisque, to bubbles floating through the air.

The more intimate rear gallery is painted entirely white – regarded as the combination of all visible colors, Breuning continues to evoke tension between the surface and the paint. These three photographs question the relationship between the fluidity of poured paint and rigidity of the grid.

Outside the gallery, set against the back drop of the urban landscape, a light box has been affixed to facade of the building displaying another of Breuning photographs.  With the inextricable links to advertising that the light box provides, this plays into Breuning’s familiar fascination with the mass media and popular culture, as well as his desire to speak in a universal language.

Benevento Los Angeles

Olaf Breuning