In Schlapp, Christopher Wool uses silkscreen to explore the ideas of painting and erasing, gesture and removal, depth and flatness. Using black spray enamel, Wool achieves a massive range of motion and depth within the confines of the linen canvas. By limiting the palette, Wool sets up a strict constraint on the range of the paint and further pushes the boundaries of what makes a painting formally successful. Through action and erasure, Wool creates a unique mark that traces his gesture across the picture plane. He sprays across the canvas and then retraces the line with solvent, smudging, blending and erasing the strong line of the spray paint. Despite the medium, which makes a clear reference to industrialism and graffiti, the paintings remains elegant and poetic. 

Wool belongs to a generation of artists (Robert Gober, Jeff Koons and Richard Prince) who in the early 1980s were looking for new possibilities in painting and sculpture. Within his particular oeuvre, Wool has transposed elements from mass culture such as print media, advertising, music and film as a means to create a collision between painting and printing. He possesses a wide range of style – using a combined array of painterly techniques, including spray paint, silkscreen, and hand painting. Wool provides tension between painting and erasing, gesture and removal, depth and flatness.

Wool was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1955. He currently lives and works in New York.

Contact us at info@ganekfamfdn.org