Finders Keepers

Provenance:

Jack Tilton Gallery, New York

Acquired from the above by a Private Collection, Miami in 2002

Lot Note:

Franz Ackermann (German, b. 1963), one of the foremost German artists of his generation, produces paintings, prints, and installations reflecting the social changes of globalization and cultural homogenization. Expressions of modern urbanity and the cheapness of commodified tourism, Ackermann creates fantastical spatial perspectives, frequently larger than life. We are pleased to present to you in this sale No One (2001), an installation work in four distinct lots, which inherently and exquisitely exhibits Ackermann's focus on visual expression of modernity.  

Each component of No One reflects, teaches and swallows its audience, in a manner reminiscent of Ackermannn’s efforts in Mental Maps, a series combining the factual accuracy of traditional street maps with a personal interpretation of each environment.  

Untitled (dawn) and Helicopter XIX (the morning) are expansive works on canvas, colorfully disorienting and sharply geometric. As soon as a scene begins to become recognizable, the whole image seems to shift kaleidoscopically. A large sepia photograph, Untitled, becomes deeply intimate with the addition of a draped t-shirt and image of a couple embracing, making the viewer feel as though they are a surprise visitor to an unkempt bedroom. The work is sharply contrasted with Billboard II (no one), a Lichtenstein-esque construction with a swirling pattern in black and white, the verso of which is pasted with Italian political posters and ephemera, dropping the viewer onto a busy city street.  

Each element of No One is an architectural, metropolitan, and vaguely ominous reflection of Ackermann’s travels and the outside world, as he takes the viewer alongside him through this intensely personal journey.