Tobias Abel, Paintings, Galerie Johann Widauer, Innsbruck 2007

Each color has its shape. Therefore, each shape has its color. With Tobias Abel, a radical premise will not result in a “radical work”. Currently on view at Galerie Widauer. The counterpoint to neorealism – which presently prevails in the art scene – could not be more extreme: the work presented by Tobias Abel at Galerie Johann Widauer in Innsbruck is more than just non-representational art.

The works raises the essential question what painting is all about. The monochrome appears to be only monochrome. However, Tobias Abel is concerned with more: it is a question of surface, shape, color. A wide field of painting opens up. Tobias Abel is concerned with the act of creation, which defines the image step by step in its ongoing process. Only when he has found the shape for the color he is a little closer to the goal with his paintings. This approach is characterized by clear, precise considerations that exclude emotions, but nevertheless in its virtuosity it does not leave the viewer untouched.

Text: Moni Brüggeler