135 - DAVID OSTROWSKI (GERMAN B. 1981)

DAVID OSTROWSKI (GERMAN B. 1981) F, 2012 acrylic, spray paint and paper collage on canvas 121.8 x 91.7 cm (47 7/8 x 36 1/8 in.) signed and dated on the turnover edge PROVENANCE LTD Gallery, Los Angeles Private Collection, Connecticut LOT NOTES Executed in 2012, the year Ostrowski made his international breakthrough, the present work belongs to the artist’s celebrated F series, the ongoing body of work that defines his practice. Over a worn, matte black ground, irregular sheets of paper have been laid down and sprayed over. Their creased, wrinkled surfaces catch drifts of ghostly blue-gray pigment, and a single pale sheet at lower center reads like a patch of light breaking through. Scuffs, drips, flecks of yellow and white, and the dust of the studio are left visible on the surface. The painting is as much a record of its own making as it is a composition. The F series rests on a deliberate strategy of self-sabotage. Ostrowski has said he tries to paint with his right hand as if it were his left, setting aside his academic training so that chance and error can enter the work. The letter F has been read as standing for failure, among other meanings. He favors fast-drying spray paint and lacquer precisely because they do not allow correction. The dark, battered surfaces of 2012 relate closely to the paintings Ostrowski made that year during his residency with Ltd Los Angeles and showed in “Tried and Failed” at BolteLang, Zurich. Critics compared those black, weathered canvases to tarmac and soot. Born in Cologne in 1981, Ostrowski studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Albert Oehlen and in 2012 received the studio fellowship of the Kölnischer Kunstverein and the Imhoff-Stiftung. He quickly became one of the most closely watched painters of his generation. His auction record was set at Phillips, London, in February 2015, when F (Gee Vaucher), also from 2012, sold for £170,500. He is represented by Sprüth Magers, and since 2022 he has been Professor of Painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe. Keywords: F Series, Albert Oehlen Student, German Abstraction, Spray Paint Painting, Sprüth Magers, Cologne N.B. Condition reports are available upon request. All lots are sold in as-is condition at the time of sale. Please note that any condition statement regarding works of art is given as a courtesy to our clients in order to assist them in assessing the condition. The report is a genuine opinion held by Shapiro Auctions & Appraisals LLC and should not be treated as a statement of fact. The absence of a condition report or a photograph does not preclude the absence of defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Shapiro Auctions & Appraisals, LLC., including its consultants and agents, shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.