アメリカ人アーティスト、マーク・グロッチャン（Mark Grotjahn）の作品集。同ギャラリーでは自身7回目の個展としてロサンゼルスの「BLUM & POE」で2015年に開催された「MARK GROTJAHN: 15 PAINTINGS」展において、作者は非具象絵画の可能性の追求を掲げながらも、最初期の「Face」ペインティングシリーズ以来10年近くに渡って展開してきたモチーフをさらに深く掘り下げている。作者は、パレットナイフを用い、油絵具の重層の上から彫るようにして作品を描きだしていく。多様な色彩やユニークな画面構成を用いた制作プロセスの複雑さに目を向けじっくりと観察していくうちに、概して作品が持つ不思議な調和を感じられるだろう。本書は、作品図版、展示風景を収録すると共に、作品の制作過程を時系列的に紹介している。

This catalogue was published alongside the exhibition Fifteen Paintings, held at Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, May 1 - June 20, 2015. Fifteen Paintings marked the artist’s seventh solo presentation at Blum & Poe and followed recent exhibitions of Grotjahn’s Circus paintings at Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany and his Turkish Forest series at Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy. Furthering his exploration into the possibilities of non-representational painting, Grotjahn digs deeper into motifs developed nearly a decade ago in his earliest Face paintings. From 2013-2015 Grotjahn made a suite of fifteen oil paintings on cardboard mounted on canvas, each scaled at approximately 50 x 40 inches and informally referred to as “Indians” and “Non-Indians,” distinguishable by their respective color palettes and unique compositions. Grotjahn employs a palette knife to drag, scrape, and feather densely woven layers of oil paint. Aggressively worked from the center of the painting, the impasto offers a glimpse into the many layers of color comprising the composition. Reds, yellows, blues, purples, and greens explode forward from darkened backgrounds. In some areas, the texture of raw cardboard is still visible. Extending beyond the vertical edges, thick accumulations have been left exposed. As one carefully observes and appreciates the complexity of the process, the generosities of the works as a whole are revealed.