Tilman, Stack 42.06, Lacquer on MDF, 2006

Stack 42.06 (Abstract painting) Lacquer on MDF. This series of works, titled ‘Stacks’, started in 2005. They stand in the continuum of Tilman’s exploration of the ‘painted object’ or painting. These works vary in dimensions. Finding inspiration in every-day objects, most of these works have an actual ‘realistic’ background. In this case, research of the idea of ‘stacking’ leads to architectural forms. These works are a combination of painted MDF-board and - in some cases- of acrylic glass or foam mats. Born in Munich, Germany, Tilman is an abstract artist and curator. His work includes paintings, built environments, and stacked and layered wall and floor-based objects. He is a founder and current curatorial advisor of Dolceacqua Arte Contemporanea (d.a.c.) in Dolceacqua, Italy, and was a founder and former Chief Curator of the Center for Contemporary Non-Objective Art (CCNOA) in Brussels, Belgium. Tilman lives and works in New York City and Dolceacqua, Italy. Tilman is inspired by the traditions of Concrete Art and Minimalism. The objects he creates use form and color to interpret light and space, engaging the curiosity of viewers. As an active participant in his visual surroundings, his natural curiosity leads him to notice forms, compositions, colors and other sensory impressions occupying public spaces. These concrete elements of the common visual world then take on a new, non-objective presence in his mind. He later interprets these found visual elements into made concrete objects through a reductive process, eliminating what is not necessary and allowing the essence of his findings to manifest anew. Artworks by Tilman are included in numerous private and institutional collections, including those of Deutsche Bank, Pfizer, Teachers Insurance, The New York Public Library and the Musée d’art Moderne, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.