K.R.H. Sonderborg. copy-paste

About

Inspired by the gestural painting of American Abstract Expressionism, Sonderborg went his own way early on, showing in his paintings and drawings a fascination with technical constructions and their traces of movement. He followed the shape in its process of creation, using a spontaneous application of paint. Sonderborg thus created a dynamic structural system. His brushstrokes were more like blows with the painting tool, executed in a swift gesture. His preferred colors were black and white with red elements, which he applied with a rubbing or wiping technique. From the 1960s on, his work increasingly moved towards an almost representational formal and reduced language that was intent on control. He limited himself to a few high-contrast color tones, usually black on white. He distilled motifs from private and press photographs, isolating them from their narrative context and using them as a basic optical structure for inspiration. He remained true to his preference for technical constructions, whereby the graphic structure of car windshield wipers and overhead wires inspired him just as much as harbor cranes or gas tanks.

Sonderborg participated in Venice Biennale (1958 and 1970) and documenta (1959 and 1964). He was professor in Stuttgart (1965-90), Minneapolis (1969/70), and Chicago (1986).