FORTY
Gallerie Suppan, Vienna
2023
Forty is an exhibition of forty works by Michael Ornauer representing a consistent continuation of his artistic approach.
All the paintings originate from a self-made table.
The works are created exclusively in a horizontal position, with the tabletop functioning as an easel. The pressure applied to the canvases — themselves often self-made and stretched on wood — and the resistance of the tabletop are essential elements of Ornauer’s technique.
Just as in kintsugi,
the Japanese ceramic repair technique where broken pottery is mended with an adhesive mixed with gold, Ornauer’s paintings evolve. Each layer influences the next, and it is only through the accumulation of imperfect layers that the final expression is realized.