German artist Michael Krebber is a firm fixture at Maureen Paley, his most recent exhibition being the fifth solo show that he has enjoyed at the East London gallery. While there is a distinct ‘Krebber-ishness’ to this new selection of paintings and drawings, he is an artist who is often difficult to pin down to one exact thing.
In previous works, Krebber has played with ebbing and flowing, at times playing with cartoon and graphic novel images crammed with text and statements, at other times with a starkness that would make most painters desperate to fill more of that agonising white space. It is the latter side of Krebber’s work that is explored here.
Singular lines, marks and gestures are allowed to run free in works that celebrate the nature and quirks of painting (and sometimes drawing) itself. Colours are used boldly, with bright pinks, deeps purples and heavenly blues sitting in clear sections. The effect is uncomfortable, yet Krebber pulls off this look so well — each element fully considered and confidently placed, forming a strong mix of precision and expression.
His drawings are treated with a similar nod to simplicity, with marks sitting at the top or side of larger white spaces. The bare surface of both canvases and papers are clear to see, with textured white backgrounds to paintings, and hole punched, lined notebook paper sitting behind small pencil gestures.
This exhibition questions, ‘what a painting cannot do’ — an old question, but one that offers a few new answers in Krebber’s hands.
Michael Krebber is open at Maureen Paley until 4 October 2015
