Overview
'I often use very contradictory materials, every step in my working practice could be described as a balancing act on a thin line evading categorisation. It's also about the reaction / rebound between me and the work / surface within the coordinates of time and the used media.'
Nick Oberthaler's works are characterised by a clear, reduced visual language in geometric abstractions that are dominated by a technological quality, further intensified by his use of strong artificial colours. Sharp lines and contours bring to mind the structure of abstract geometric paintings. In his compositions, Oberthaler uses numerous different media, including photographs and photocopies of images he finds in books, magazines or online and which he reworks in various ways, finishing them in detail or leaving them roughly sketched. The artist's precise associations remain private and it is often impossible to infer references from these works. The viewer is left to wonder about the content and decide upon their own focus and interpretation.
Oberthaler simply refers to his works as 'drawings', although he uses a range of materials including paint, ink and collage fragments. Due to its delicate and unforgiving texture, paper remains his preferred medium: the fragile surface reveals every artistic trace and at times is even damaged by the artist's rough treatment. At the same time, this sensitivity of the paper's surface enables him to work in a nuanced, subtle way. He combines materials such as ink and wax, or pastels and watercolours – materials that do not blend – in a method that creates unexpected textures and tensions.
Nick Oberthaler's works are characterised by a clear, reduced visual language in geometric abstractions that are dominated by a technological quality, further intensified by his use of strong artificial colours. Sharp lines and contours bring to mind the structure of abstract geometric paintings. In his compositions, Oberthaler uses numerous different media, including photographs and photocopies of images he finds in books, magazines or online and which he reworks in various ways, finishing them in detail or leaving them roughly sketched. The artist's precise associations remain private and it is often impossible to infer references from these works. The viewer is left to wonder about the content and decide upon their own focus and interpretation.
Oberthaler simply refers to his works as 'drawings', although he uses a range of materials including paint, ink and collage fragments. Due to its delicate and unforgiving texture, paper remains his preferred medium: the fragile surface reveals every artistic trace and at times is even damaged by the artist's rough treatment. At the same time, this sensitivity of the paper's surface enables him to work in a nuanced, subtle way. He combines materials such as ink and wax, or pastels and watercolours – materials that do not blend – in a method that creates unexpected textures and tensions.
Oberthaler was born in Bad Ischl, Austria in 1981. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, and now lives and works between Vienna and Hamburg. His teaching activities include a professorship for Painting at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (2020–22). His works are displayed in important institutional collections, including the 21er Haus / Belvedere, Vienna; Landesgalerie Linz and Caldic Collection/Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, the Netherlands. International exhibitions include Distinct Oscillations Revisited, with Wilfrid Almendra, Adelaïde, Marseille (2018); RIDEAUX/blinds, Institut d'Art Contemporain Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, France (2015); The Blackbird Must be Flying, with Thomas Julier, Centre d'Art Bastille, Grenoble (2014–15); Calculated Reserve, Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen/Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome (2014); and Minimal Myth, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2012).
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