Francesca Reyes

"Door #29 (Double)" Oil on panel, black, blue, gold, wood grain, architecture

2018

So Real, 2013, is a large scale oil painting with a bold saturated palette by abstract geometric artist, Kati Vilim. This abstraction is an optical illusio...

Rosebud, 2013, is a large scale oil painting by abstract geometric artist, Kati Vilim. This abstraction is an optical illusion, with cascading cubical forms in a series of red hues ...

"Uniformly Coordinated Tectonic Preferences IV," by Kati Vilim is a blue and magenta scale abstract geometric, non-objective, oil painting on canvas over wo...

"Uniformly Coordinated Tectonic Preferences II," by Kati Vilim is a blue and magenta scale abstract geometric, non-objective, oil painting on canvas over wo...

Since Franz Ecker’s early death in 1999 his work has been newly appreciated, what is manifested in numerous exhibitions, catalogues and in the acclaimed film about the artist. He was extremely productive and left behind an almost unmanageable scope of works in various styles. Among them some of the top works that are unparalleled in recent Austrian art history and whose significance has not yet been adequately appreciated. After finishing his studies in 1966 in class of prof. Sergius Pauser and after receiving his two prizes, Franz Ecker moved back to Leonding where he developed his clear, abstract language of forms. Among his sources of inspiration are Cezanne and Picasso, as well as Martin Polasek who was one of his teachers. This led him to painting in a flat and abstract manner, which triggers a spatial experience through its exact color coordination and strict composition. The strongest period in his oeuvre is the time when his paintings are between figuration and abstraction. Only until around 1975 he additionally creates numerous watercolors, even though he restricts this medium to his more lyrical works. If Franz Ecker cannot be included in the avant-garde cannon of the 70’s, it is only because he witheld from presenting his works on the art market. Instead of using the opportunities that were offered to him in Vienna, he returned after his time at the academy to Linz where there was no appreciation nor market for his works. Distanced from the established art business, Ecker lives uncompromisingly the precarious life of a lonely genius. An artist myth, which in his case certainly is a bitter reality. Unimpressed by this, Ecker develops an increasingly broad language of forms within the clear line of abstract pictorial conception, which he emphasizes with constantly new forms of signature. At the end of the seventies his works became more gestural and expressive. His works like “Kafka” anticipate the “Neue Wilden”. When these are celebrated as the “return of painting...

Seit seinem frühen Tod 1999 erlebt das Werk von Franz Ecker eine längst fällige Neubewertung, die sich auch in zahlreichen Einzelausstellungen, Katalogen und einem sehenswerten Kinof...

Artist's Statement: "Around 30 years ago, not long after I had started painting seriously, I was at a one-man exhibition of the great Brice Marden at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art when I visited the annex to get a cocktail. There was one other guy at the small bar table in an otherwise empty room, waiting for his coffee to be handed to him. He turned and dumped half of it down my front. I immediately recognized him as none other than Brice Marden. He apologized profusely, but I stopped him and said: 'No problem: how often is it that Brice Marden dumps coffee on your pants? They're worth more now.' We both had a good laugh. At any rate - I was certainly channeling his early work when I began work on this series. They are made with oil and beeswax on wood panels. While they look Minimalist at first glance, there are subtle shifts in color and texture that distinguish them from hard-edged abstraction. For me, it has always been about the surface, and the materials. Wax has a character unlike anything else. I use wax both hot (encaustic) and in a cold mixture with turpentine, blended with oil. The complementary underpainting, setting the stage for the wax and oil later...

Artist's Statement: "Around 30 years ago, not long after I had started painting seriously, I was at a one-man exhibition of the great Brice Marden at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern...