November 21, 2003 - February 14, 2004

MICHAEL TOENGES

Paintings

03-12-60-70 2003 oil on canvas 27-1/2 x 23-5/8", 70 x 60 cm

Margarete Roeder Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by Michael Toenges from November 21, 2003 - February 14, 2004. A reception for the artist will be held on Friday, November 21, from 6 - 8 PM. Toenges' paintings are celebrations of paint, its materiality, color and meanings. The paintings are modest in scale but the sheer material presence of these dense, weighty images-their profound physicality tempts one to say forms-effortlessly occupies a spatial, rather than planar realm. The works, static enough in actuality, seem to be on the move, metaphorically contesting the spatial and conceptual domain allotted to them. The paint, thickly and lushly applied, insistently three-dimensional, cannot be contained by the board support as it creeps over the edges. Similarly, they contest their designation as paintings, as if they need to move to another nomenclature: how could an object, so spatial and physical be called a painting? The lubriciously entwined brushstrokes engender thickly crusted surfaces of paint. The sinuous images, so distinct from the crisp environments we experience them in, encourage our attempts to construct referential forms. But the topography of these works exists not in references to the actual geologies of the landscape but in the dense terrains of experienced paint. Michael Toenges, born 1952, Munich, lives in Cologne, Germany; he has exhibited in galleries and museums in Europe and the United States since 1982. Recent solo exhibitions include Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco and Galerij S65, Aalst, Belgium, both 2003. His work is in the collection of the Erzbischöfliches Diözesanmuseum, Cologne, and Kunsthaus Aarau, Switzerland. More images may be viewed at the artist's website. For further information and photographs, please contact the gallery. 03-16-50-60 2003 oil on canvas 23-5/8 x 19-3/4", 60 x 50 cm   03-14-50-60 2003 oil on canvas 23-5/8 x 19-3/4", 60 x 50 cm P10-02-20-30, 2002 oil on board 11-7/8 x 7-7/8", 30 x 20 cm 03-04-28-32P, 2003 oil on board 12-5/8 x 11", 32 x 28 cm 03-18-28-32P 2003 oil on wood 12-5/8 x 11", 32 x 28 cm 03-26-45-50, 2003 oil on canvas, 19-3/4 x 17-3/4", 50 x 45 cm   03-07-35-40, 2003 oil on board, 15-3/4 x 13-3/4", 40 x 35 cm TOP