Franziska Reinbothe / Gallery No. 1542

In Reinbothe’s work, a painting that appears to be finished is not necessarily so. Destruction becomes a further stage in the composition of the picture.
A traditional painting is normally a flat rectangle consisting of canvas, paint, a stretcher frame and the wall. In Reinbothe’s work, however, this seemingly self-evident system is dismantled. The canvas may suddenly protrude into the room, form folds, be detached from the frame, or even be completely detached from the wall. As a result, not only the paint, but also the material and the construction of the painting itself become the subject of the artwork.
A fine example is the work shown here: In a monochrome painting measuring approximately 60 x 60 cm, consisting of two layers of paint superimposed on one another, the stretcher frame was broken lengthways and crossways. The canvas remained intact. The four quarters were then stacked on top of one another to form an object. As a result, the invisible stretcher frame, the reverse side and the edges, with their two layers of paint, became the actual painting.