Günther Förg: Lead Paintings, White Cube Mason's Yard

The crucially important 20th century German artist Günther Förg is making quite a splash in London this summer with two simultaneous exhibitions at White Cube Mason's Yard and Almine Rech Gallery close by in Mayfair.
Günther Forg | Lead Paintings
While Förg is best known as a sculptor, painter and photographer, powerhouse contemporary art gallery White Cube takes us on a journey through Förg's most famous lead paintings, made primarily in the early 1980s. These abstract works make a nod to Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, while challenging formalism to embrace a unique ambiguity where painting is freed from physical limitations. These works also make reference to Günther Förg photography of architectural details.
White Cube Mason's Yard exhibition
Förg relishes the blemishes of the contorted lead sheeting, covered in confident acrylic geometric marks, which create a variety of textures. Look out for Untitled (1987) where two blocks of red and white paint eek into the lead, and Untitled (1992) where a sumptuous dark grey is divided by a single purple line.
Standing in a long line across the gallery wall, this series of lead works shows painting in its purest essence.