About the Work
Since the 1980s Julian Schnabel has been experimenting with a wide variety of materials, including oil, wax, emulsion and plaster. Apart from canvas, he uses wood, shards, rags, velvet, tent canvas and sailcloth as a painting support. This radical extension of the painterly spectrum is also visible in 'Untitled' from 2015. The basis for the work is a photo of the floor of Schnabel's studio. He changed the colours transferred onto a polyester canvas using an inkjet printer and then processed it with spray paint. Here the extension of the painterly spectrum went so far that the boundaries between painting and photography have become blurred.
In addition to the surface, which is determined by the material, another characteristic of Schnabel's works becomes evident: their monumental size. They are generally no smaller than two metres long and two metres wide. Through this size, the concomitant weight and the almost three-dimensional surface they take on relief-like characteristics.
