Tilman, Untitled (137.13), Crayon on Vellum, 2013

Untitled (137.13) (Abstract Painting) Crayon on vellum - Unframed In a broader sense, Tilman’s works on paper function as an archive of the artist’s ideas and observations. The visual information derives from various sources - found and discovered by the artist’s restless visual mind. Usually there are no preceding sketches for Tilman’s works on paper. The visual memory finds its way directly onto the paper and undergoes a transformation into a ‘flat’ translation of the memorized image. By way of a playful approach, the artist explores the possibilities and potential of the abstracted image. However, in some cases, these works can be seen as ‘studies’, which later on manifest themselves partially within paintings, painted objects or architectures. For these works on paper the artist used crayons on vellum to reveal a painterly quality and surface structure. Tilman has created works on paper since 1982 up to the present. 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.