Succo – Kirkeby

Ungewohnte Verbindungen von Naturalismus, Figuration und Abstraktion

Chris Succo’s (b. Dusseldorf, 1979; lives and works in ibid.) creative practice luxuriates in a materiality energized by maximum contrasts between line and surface. Succo is a reductionist, analyzing complex phenomena with a view to their basic elements, which he renders and transforms in brisk brushstrokes that breathe the spirit of abstract expressionism. Per Kirkeby (b. Copenhagen, 1938; d. ibid., 2018) is widely regarded as the grand master of Danish contemporary art. Working in large formats, the artist deployed luminous colors to produce canvases with a gruff allure. An early advocate of disciplined savagery in art, he charted a universe of evocative motifs on hard Masonite panels—his creations are studies in nature or, more often, intimations of its essence. Despite the differences between their painterly visions, both Kirkeby and Succo reveal themselves to be scholars and archaeologists of the visual sediments of our world.

Succo – Kirkeby presents paintings by Kirkeby from over four decades in dialogue with Succo’s recent output. Both artists have devised distinctive forms of abstract painting that leave the beholder with lasting impressions. Gregor Jansen discusses affinities and differences between their conceptions of painting.