Cooklin's Blog | An Amalgamation of Photography

Anselm Reyle

Untitled, 2006

Mixed media on canvas, acrylic glass

Courtesy the artist

© Anselm Reyle

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The Artist’s Dining Room brings together three German artists
working within the tradition of abstraction. The two younger artists, Anselm
Reyle and Thomas Scheibitz, are currently significant figures on the international
art scene, while Manfred Kuttner is an artist who was active in the 1960s,
and whose work, overlooked for many years, is now being reappraised.

All three artists move effortlessly between painting and sculpture, with
an eclectic approach to both form and materials. They play with optical illusions,
shifting perspectives, tricks of the light, mirrors and reflections, often
using new technology, (whether it is the latest developments in paint or
digital image manipulation) to reinvigorate familiar forms.

The title of the exhibition, The Artist’s Dining Room, is taken
from a work by Pablo Picasso from 1918. Though it is an abstract composition,
it also refers to the importance of the domestic and personal realm underlying
an artist’s work. The choice of title is intended to remind us of a key moment
in the history of European Modernism, while pointing to the way in which
the artists exhibited here sample and reference the past.

The Artist’s Dining Room is the third in
a series of five thematic exhibitions located in Level 2 Gallery, Tate
Modern’s dedicated space for the latest ideas, themes and trends in
international contemporary art. The 2006-7 series is conceived and led
by Emma Dexter, Curator, Tate Modern. The
Artist’s Dining Room is curated by Emma Dexter and Juliet Bingham, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern.