Entering the exhibition space, the viewer encounters a series of large paintings made from irregular spray-painted lines on white or dark acrylic backgrounds, or even on raw canvas. Close inspection reveals that the canvas is peppered with pieces of scrap paper, tape, cotton remnants, and other everyday materials from the artist’s studio. Through a highly intuitive approach, David Ostrowski constructs pure form out of line, color, and gesture. The letter F in F Series is often interpreted as representing “failure” or “Fehlermalerei” (error painting), but the artist’s choice of this letter was purely out of intuition. These seemingly “failed” or “erratic” visual experiments in fact amount to a rethinking and doubting of the forms of painting, satirical deconstructions of the traditions and authority of painting.

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The exhibition title Let me put it this way further breaks down the solemnity of the contemporary art exhibition in a casual manner. The exhibition employs an unconventional design, with paintings hung haphazardly around the space to achieve a three-dimensional presentation. In this way, Ostrowski’s paintings constitute multiple meanings according to different viewing paths and spatial constructs.

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This exhibition is organized by Assistant Curator Gao Liangjiao and Associate Curator Wu Yiyang at the Aranya Art Center.

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