Jürgen Partenheimer

Jürgen Partenheimer (b. 1947) is among the most renowned German artists of his generation. Since his participation at the Paris Biennial in 1980 and the Venice Biennial in 1986, his work has been shown internationally. His work has an abstract quality and which he refers to as "metaphysical realism." His practice includes painting, drawing, sculpture and also draws on theory, poetry and prose.

Canto V

In 1996, Partenheimer completed a group of fourteen drawings on paper entitled Canto IV. Drawings of an intimate nature, small, marked by erasure, they were later considerably enlarged to form the basis of a series of abstract multimedia prints, Canto V, which the artist created at Graphicstudio in 1997.

The nine vertical prints of Canto V are an experience in blue, a kind of high alpine blue that is spiritual and earthly at one time. The black or white drawings contain, or float within, or are under, the blueness that is as transparent and individually marked with swirls and mottles as a watercolor painting. Within this fluid extent, blocks of tonally consistent blue recede and come forward, and constellations of fingerprints drift. Each element is so finely pitched in shape, color and tone, as to be in continuous struggle to resolve a balance with the others. With the prints torn to the edges of the imagery, shorn of clues, it is difficult to discern exactly how the works of art were made.

This multimedia series combines etching, lithography and heliorelief woodblock in each print. Within this richness, he limited his vocabulary to several visual units of each: six heliorelief blocks with Canto IV drawings, three lithographic plates with different configurations of large blocks of color, three softground etching plates, and three plates etched with spitbite/aquatint. Freely combined within a structure, the variations create nine comprehensive and clearly related prints.

 

Further Resources

Artist's Site: jurgenpartenheimer.com

Printmaking + Sculpture Terms

Printmaking Glossary

Sculpture Glossary

Sales

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Copyright + Reproduction

Images of the artwork are jointly owned by the artist and Graphicstudio. Reproduction of any kind including electronic media must be expressly approved by Graphicstudio.