Tal R: The Shlomo by Cheim Read

TAL R

TA L

CH E IM & R EA D

CHEIM & READ

tal_r_cover_10-12-12.indd 1

10/22/12 12:20 PM

TA L

THE SHLOMO T E X T BY M AT T H E W I S R A E L CHEIM & READ

The Sensuous and the Making Strange by Matthew Israel

Time and Space Died Yesterday. –FT Marinetti, The Futurist Manifesto1

Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of quite an intense feeling, a sort of conflict one might see, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is apparent. –René Magritte2

We forget to look at art. Instead, we too quickly get caught up discussing art history or the latest news of what’s happening in contemporary art, or whatever else is on our minds. In galleries and museums, we also seem to like looking at other people (and our phones) just as much as the art. Tal R’s work, however, reminds us to stop and look. His titles tell us little and his pictures appear strange. But his works are not impenetrable or ungenerous, superficial or ironic. Their strangeness, akin to that of the Surrealists, lures us in. It makes us question how we conceive of the fabric of reality and our complacency with that which is deemed familiar. So what are we looking at?

All plates in essay: Tal R, Small Floor Drawings

First, there is the immediate impression. Dramatic colors clash and often dominate whatever imagery we might identify in these pictures. The works’ surfaces are a painted, powdery—almost dusty—expanse. Importantly, this is not oil or acrylic on canvas—what is most familiar to those of us who often look at paintings—but an unfamiliar mix of rabbit skin glue and pigments. On one hand, rabbit skin glue was the foundation of many historic canvases and is still used today to tighten a canvas up for the application of oil paint. Using rabbit skin glue with pigments though is an altogether different approach. The glue becomes not the arena on which to act but what in the end will be the visible surface of the work—so in a way, the act itself. Also, the glue cannot be layered like oil. As a result, it leaves relatively little room for revision and hesitation, and as such, much of the work in this exhibition was planned thoroughly but necessarily executed rather quickly. Mark Rothko used a similar medium in his paintings. At times, individual areas of Tal’s works achieve the shimmering translucency of Rothko’s. How does this translucency occur? Light penetrates the paint films, striking the individual pigment particles. Then the light bounces back to suffuse the surface and engulf the viewer in color. If you spend a moment to look past the surface’s texture and color—which is difficult to do because it can entrance—you come to the pictorial space. Within it, one sees little attempt towards illusionism, realism, or trompe l’oeil. Foregrounds and backgrounds seem to vibrate and overlap, and never—as we think they should—entirely become the primary and secondary areas we are exposed to. (For a good example of this, see the street scene in Night Awning.) Because of this, in looking at Tal’s work, we think of the imagined and often fantastic spaces of late 19th century European painters: those of the Symbolists or Expressionists and then later the Fauves. As such, there are hints of Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse and Paul Klee. Another consistent aspect of the pictorial space are the curious bands of color running along the bottom of each painting. The band disables the space and imagery above from functioning like a window, and in turn, makes us always conscious of the image’s artificiality.

Also in the images: so many—often conflicting and clashing—patterns. Dots, stripes, and multi-colored squares in a rainbow of pastel pigments rush out at us, and threaten to overtake our attention, as well as the attempts the paintings make towards figuration. You wouldn’t call these works ornamental though. Maybe a “minimalist decorative,” as their embellishments are refined, trimmed, and almost necessarily constructed. At the same time, there still seems to be an unmistakable joy in pattern-making here. Pictures like House Bonni make us think of Klee’s intricate and overwhelming

Paul Klee Rose Garden 1920 Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus

arrangements of shapes and colors—in such works as his Rose Garden, 1920. We could also think of the patchwork clothing that adorns Gustave Klimt’s lovers in The Kiss, or Klimt’s portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, or even the plants that slide up the tablecloth and onto the walls of the room in Matisse’s Harmony in Red, 1908. Or what about Kandinsky’s 1908 landscapes such as his Munich-Schwabing with the Church of St. Ursula? And then there are glimmers of the work of Poul Gernes and Alfred Jensen... Buildings and figures do eventually emerge from the colors and patterns (that threaten to sweep us away). Tal’s structures’ angularity and his treatment of figures reminds one of Northern Renaissance paintings or the figurative works of Kasimir Malevich. The list of associations here could be much longer. What about Asian puppetry, 1930s American cartoons, Inuit sculpture, or the works of Philip Guston, Forrest Bess, Pieter Bruegel, Robert Crumb, Raymond Pettibon, Balthus, or Henri Rousseau? While these names quickly come to mind, Tal’s references remain well-collaged. In other words, you wouldn’t approach any of these paintings and see the aforementioned

influences or artists straightaway or individually but instead they seem to wash over you with time. Another way to look at this world of references: quotations or allusions feel surfed or sailed through—none of them quite sticking. Notably, sailing and the sea is a recurring motif for Tal: look at his Yellow Sail or The Pink Wave, both from 2004. Also pertinent here is the Yiddish word Kolbojnik, which has been used to describe Tal’s collection of references. It can mean “garbage box” or “leftovers,” or that which one has left behind in their upbringing. When you finally are able to move past the effect of line and color and work your way into the imagery of these pictures, you find it to be incredibly easy to express and understand. Tal says ideally he could explain what happens in any of his works over the phone or in writing. Accordingly, he calls the subject in these works, “almost zero,” or what one could understand as the most uncomplicated description of a scene. For example, Tal might say of one work that in it there is a man walking down the street, or in another, there is a picture of a house, or in another there is a picture of a woman on a bed on her knees. That’s it. There’s very little to explain. Again, the subject as almost zero. But then there is the other half of the experience of looking at these images: the impact, or what one could call the effect, or the meaning of these works. It is almost the complete opposite of what you see. While these paintings are so much about surface, and the imagery looks readily available, at the same time what is in the pictures is particularly unresolved. In being so, they allude to something entirely beyond the surface. This something is mysterious, undisclosed, slightly outside our grasp.This is the world (using the idea of the Surrealists) where dreams are omnipotent, this is the space of pauses, uncertainties, or that which (again, citing the Surrealists) is influenced by “the disinterested play of thought.”3 In this respect, the paintings concretize the space between surface and meaning, between events taking place in a painting and one’s understanding of them. These images lodge in our minds and tantalize us, half-resolved, and they make us quiet. And during this quiet moment we become conscious of our narrow conception of what is possible within the real and our complacency with the familiar. It becomes an invitation to detach and

explore other possibilities for painting—and

moreover—

regarding our experience of the world. When exactly do you notice this surreal world, this world of dreams and the pause, in Tal’s works? Somewhat quickly, but still only if you really stop and look at one of the paintings. Tal explains this moment as “awkward,” as occurring after you have been looking at the

Henri Matisse Harmony in Red 1908 The State Hermitage Museum

gentle surface and then are trying to find your bearings, and then suddenly, you’re not exactly sure what you’re looking at. Tal compares the character of the paintings to a melting ice cream cone on a hot day. For a moment, all seems whole; a compacted mass, but quickly, as you try to sort through the content of the picture, the mass starts to lose its tension and then it begins running down your arm. Is there any way to put words to this world beyond the veil; this mystery within our everyday lives? There are hints of meanings; some messages and ideas are apparent, even though they (like the ice cream cone) often quickly dissolve and complicate themselves right in front of our eyes. Take the figure named Shlomo in the work Shlomo Takes a Nap. Shlomo is short for Solomon in Hebrew. It means “God’s peace.” When Shlomo is brought up to Tal, Tal mentions the concept of the “extra.” He explains that Shlomo could be there to fill in the space in a movie; to make something just appear real solely through his physical presence—nothing else. But then, Tal says, maybe Shlomo, like an extra, and like the character of Johan Nilsen Nagel in Knut Hansen’s Mysteries (or countless others) could turn out to be the key figure in the drama.

Shlomo is also Tal’s middle name—he was born Tal Shlomo Rosenzweig. The name Shlomo came from a Jewish uncle he never knew who died in World War II. Tal has said he carried the name Shlomo around like empty baggage. It was meant to honor someone who died and testified to a past that was significant but Tal had little to do with such a past. Shlomo, understood as an extra, or an outcast, also connects to Tal’s own childhood experience, which was one of expulsion and alienation. Tal was markedly different than other children in Denmark. For one, in addition to Shlomo, other parts of his name caused problems: Tal, a traditional Hebrew name, unfortunately means “number” in Danish, and it was strange and heightened his foreignness. The situation in Israel (where Tal’s family moved from) was not much better for him. Tal has said, “In Denmark, I looked the part but my name was strange. In Israel, my name was right, but with broken-Hebrew and Danish looks, I didn’t fit there either. It was this feeling of being caught between two worlds, and in a way it’s never gone away.”4 For example, of his recent experience, he has said, “mentally, what I’m doing is so much drifting and wandering around and, at this point, I have become quite happy being a tourist, not having that sense of belonging. I am deeply rooted in the cross of being here, and not being here.”5 Returning to Shlomo Takes a Nap, beyond this general clarity regarding Shlomo, there is little substance to grasp. By contrast, what seems to be concrete becomes enigmatic. Amidst the almost Technicolor awnings, there is a strange red circular spot on the ground. Is this a stage? If yes, was Shlomo Wassily Kandinsky Munich–Schwabing with the Church of St. Ursula 1908 Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus

performing here by himself or for others? The blue band at the bottom makes it feel like something has been torn off or the image

is in the process of being painted. Could these be test patches for a new painting or additions to this work? Tal’s other images lack even a central subject to hold onto and as a result—awash in engulfing pattern and color—they bring up tantalizing mystery after mystery. For one, look at Framer at Night. According to Tal, this scene is something he saw, but in the end it doesn’t matter where it occurred. This could be any framer in any city. From the title, we wonder what a framer might do at night too. Is he there? Working? The door seems to open into an office. There might be a florescent light above as security or not. But maybe it is the framer’s work-light? Is the yellow box a computer? Is the whole office building in fact a series of frames or stained-glass windows? Are there blank paintings in the frames or are they just empty? Is this an important building? An iconic building? An office building? The building that the artist (or someone) has just passed by? In the back of the room, there seems to be a projection as well. There is also the recognition that a frame shop is a strange place, filled with empty objects. Frames are the context for paintings and here they are for sale. Night Awning seems straightforward. Tal has commented that this image is from behind the fruitmarket in Tel Aviv: a street called Textile Street. We are looking at a corner scene, we think. Yet the clash between polka dots and stripes makes one suddenly realize how illogical this scene actually is. The buildings pulsate. And are we looking at windows or doors? Also, is this actually even a corner scene and is the sidewalk next to the building, or is this something else, like a window? Why is there darkness off to the left side of the picture? Is it a shadow? Look closely at The Hobby as well. It appears to be a model house, pitched on its side to ease the construction process.Yet is it a model house or is it a real one? Has Tal changed our point of view so we can look at the particular geometric qualities of a house or is this an accident? One thinks of Baselitz’ upside-down works or the upturned cars of the relatively-unknown Peter Cain. And again, what is the significance here of the red band at the bottom? Is it just meant as a background for the signature? Stepping back, we again ask what kind of house is this? The windows are pitch black. The door is impossibly huge. Shadows loom.

In Man from S, there is a man strolling in front of us. He looks relaxed. He may be drunk. He holds his head high. One wonders a lot of things though. What do the letters mean at the top left? Also, this man seems to be outside but the ground is like an interior. Is that a stoplight next to the man? Looking at the window to the right of him, are we looking outside or looking down a certain block, or are we looking at mirrors of reflection? Are we involved here possibly? Are we following this man? Do we maybe know this man? Where is S? Is S. nowhere? Is this man another extra like Shlomo? Does S. mean Shlomo? Like some of Tal’s other works, this image seems like a glance too. Tea Time includes men taking tea in a car. Maybe they’re going somewhere? Or maybe they have arrived? The man who tends to the others looks like a butler but he could also be a priest. One man drives for another. Why is this? The car also looks damaged. No one looks particularly confident that they can go on their way too. These men look stopped in their tracks but somewhat unconcerned. And rich. House Bonni is based off of a picture Tal loves that Brassai took of a house on the streets of Paris. The multicolored stones of the house look like a patchwork coat. There seems to be a house next door too, but at the same time it could be a silhouette. One thinks Marcel Duchamp’s Self-Portrait in Profile (1957). The house also reminds one of the work of Hans Hofmann as well as Klimt’s multicolored patterns. Why are we looking at this house though? Is it a closed or open door? A shadow lurks in the background. Are we maybe looking back at this house? It’s obviously older and it looks joyous on the outside but it is dark and looming on the inside. Finally, we come to Marble, which is much more direct and confrontational than the Marcel Duchamp Self–Portrait in Profile 1957/1967

other works. It is a nude. We see a woman’s

butt. But her position dislocates her from the tradition of the more polite nude. The pose (and subtle attention to the details of the genitals) is more related to pornography. In this way, the work masterfully vacillates between a Matissean museum piece— abstracted enough for the masses—and delicate and somewhat insulting erotic art. In more refined (and more familiar art-historical) language, this body hovers between the naked and the nude. The experience of this work—and all of these works—reminds us to do various things. They remind us of the importance of mystery, of the fact that we should be humbled by mystery, and of the fact that pictures are not complete spaces or stories but can exist in other realms if we are able to let them. But all of this occurs only if we stop and look. Tal R’s works are a reminder to stop and look.

END NOTES Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso, and Günter Berghaus. Critical Writings, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2006. Page 11. 1

Magritte, René, and Harry Torczyner. Magritte, Ideas and Images, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1977. Page 172. 2

Breton, André. “The Manifesto of Surrealism,” (1924). Manifestoes of Surrealism, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1969. Page 26. 3

Rachlin, Natalia. “The Tell-Tale Art of Tal R.” The Wall Street Journal, 14 Oct. 2011.

Ibid.

Night Awning 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 67 3/4 x 55 1/8 in 172 x 140 cm

The Shlomo 2011 rabbit glue, pigment and crayon on canvas 98 1/2 x 98 1/2 in 250.2 x 250.2 cm

House Bonni 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 48 x 44 in 122 x 112 cm

Girl and Cave 2011 rabbit glue, pigment and crayon on canvas 67 3/4 x 44 1/8 in 172 x 112 cm

Man From S 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 67 3/4 x 55 1/8 in 172 x 140 cm

Hotel Oper 2011 rabbit glue, pigment and crayon on canvas 78 3/4 x 67 3/4 in 200 x 172 cm

Girl Sitting Next to Marie 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 44 1/8 x 34 5/8 in 112 x 88 cm

The Swan 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 67 3/4 x 55 1/8 in 172 x 140 cm

Tea Time 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in 200 x 200 cm

Framer at Night 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 96 x 78 3/4 in 244 x 200 cm

Shlomo Taking a Nap 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 78 3/4 x 67 3/4 in 200 x 172 cm

Bubble 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 40 1/8 x 34 5/8 in 102 x 88 cm

The Minute 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 50 x 34 5/8 in 127 x 88 cm

The Swans 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 67 3/4 x 36 1/4 in 172 x 92 cm

The Hobby 2012 rabbit glue and pigment on canvas 48 x 42 1/2 in 122 x 108 cm

BIOGRAPHY Born 1967 Tel Aviv, Israel Lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark 1994 – 2000 The Royal Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark 1986 – 1988 Billedskolen, Copenhagen, Denmark SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2012 The Shlomo, Cheim & Read, New York

Mann über Bord, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

Egg Chair and Tal R, Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, São Paolo, Brazil

Tal R, Galerie MIRO, Prague, Czech Republic

Banana Beach, Gerhardsen Gerner, Oslo, Norway

Mann über Bord, Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck, Austria

2011 Mann auf Schlaf, Kunstverein Ausberg – Holbeinhaus, Augsburg, Germany

Science Fiction, Victoria Miro, London

Tal R, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

The Elephant behind the Clown, Der Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany

The Pyjamas, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel

2010 Tal R, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany 2009 Old Confused, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Sweden

You Laugh an Ugly Laugh, Kunsthalle Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

Teenager Beach, CAC Malaga, Malaga, Spain

armes de chine, Victoria Miro Gallery, London

You Laugh an Ugly Laugh, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany

Prints, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark

2008 Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico

Prince Fruit, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria

Flovmand, Galerie Haas, Zürich, Switzerland

You Laugh an Ugly Laugh, Giò Marconi, Milan, Italy

Adieu Interessant, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

Masters and Method, Niels Borch Jensen, Berlin, Germany

The Sum, Camden Art Center, London

The Sum, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Holland

Working Hard During the Day Naked at Night, Centro Cultural dos Correios,

Rio de Janeiro

2007 The Look, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Working Hard During the Day Naked at Night, Pinacoteca do Estado de

São Paulo, Brazil

The Sum, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark

Tal R, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany

2006 Le peintre n´est pas là, Zach Feuer Gallery, New York

Fruits, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

Gold is Over, Sabine Knust, Munich, Germany

Minus, Victoria Miro Gallery, London

House of Prince, Gary Tatinsian Gallery Inc., Moscow, Russia

Mother (with Jonathan Meese), Bortolami–Dayan, New York

2005 House of Prince, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

MOR (with Jonathan Meese), Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark

Pink, Yellow, Brown, Black, Green, White, Red, Galleri Nicolai Wallner,

Copenhagen, Denmark

2004 House of Prince, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

Figur, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

Last Drawing Before Mars, LFL Gallery, New York

2003 New Born, But Same Old Phone Number, Tal Esther Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

Arcade, Bawag Foundation, Vienna, Austria

Lords of Kolbojnik, Victoria Miro Gallery, London

2002 Ike og Ancher, Horsens Kunstmuseum, Horsens, Denmark

Fruitland, Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany

2001 Lord Madras, Hostrup–Perdersen & Johansen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Live at Club Sombi, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

2000 Dinglebær, Galerie Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen, Denmark

El Castilio, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Århus, Denmark

Für Immer (with Daniel Richter), Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, Germany

Viva Ultra, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark

1999 Looket, Horsens Kunstmuseum, Horsens, Denmark

Grill 48, Street Sharks, Copenhagen, Denmark

At the Foot of Mount Fuki, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

1998 Bicycle Thieves (with Annika Strøm), Beret International Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

Basement Buffet, DCA Gallery, New York

1997 Everybody Please Go Home, Arts Center of Givat Haviva, Israel 1996 Tur retur, Galleri Cambells Occasionally, Copenhagen, Denmark 1994 Sugar Paintings, Sugar Club, Copenhagen, Denmark GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2012 Kids, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

Wunderkammer, Autocenter, Berlin, Germany

Other Voices – Other Rooms, Avlskarl Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

Tal R, Meese and Richter, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark

Pink Caviar: Louisiana’s aquisitions for the collection over the past three years,

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark

Rendezvous der Maler II – Malerei an der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf von 1986 bis

heute, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

BERLIN TUT GUT!, The 16th Line Gallery, Rostov, Russia

LUBOK. Gráfica contemporánea y libros de artistas de Leipzig, Museo Nacional de

la Estampa, Mexico City, Mexico

2011 Presentaions from the Collection: Cosima von Bonin, Per Kirkeby and Tal R,Museum

Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Sweden

Projekt Skagen 2, Lysets Land, Skagen, Denmark

From Dürer to Tal R, Statens Museum For Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark

North by New York: New Nordic Art, American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York

Review / Preview II, Grieder Contemporary Zurich, Switzerland

LUBOK: Künstlerbücher aus Leipzig, Städtisches Kunstmuseum Spendhaus,

Reutlingen, Germany

2010 In the Company of Alice, Victoria Miro, London

Blickkontakte: Niederländische Portraits des 17 Jahrhunderts im Dialog mit Kunst der

Gegenwart Sammlung SOR Rusche, Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie, Dessau, Germany

PHYSICAL, Autocenter, Berlin, Germany

Skulpturengarten Villa Schöningen, Potsdam, Germany

Thrice upon a time, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Sweden

2009 BRANDNEU Ankäufe 2007 – 2008, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria 2008 Rooming In!, Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad, Switzerland Schwarze Galle, Roter Saft. Aspekte des Melancholischen in der Zeitgenössischen Kunst, b-05 Kunst– und Kulturzentrum, Montabaur, Germany

Andersens Wohnung: Revisited 1996 – 1999, Andersen’s Contemporary, Berlin, Germany

Penal Colony, Museum of Art Ein Harod, Israel

Abstrakt = Abstract, Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten, Kärnten, Austria

Danskjävlar – a Swedish declaration of love, Kunsthal Charlottenborg,

Copenhagen, Denmark

2007 XXS: Extra Extra Small, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel

Effiges, Modern Art, London, UK

Return to Form, Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad, Switzerland

Mad Love – Young Art in Danish Private Collections, ARKEN, Ishøj, Denmark

KölnSkulptur 4, Skulpturenpark Cologne, Germany

The Believers, MASS Moca, North Adams, Massachusetts

2006 Naivism in Contemporary Art, ARKEN, Ishøj, Denmark

GO FIGURE! Young Danish Painting, ARKEN, Ishøj, Denmark

Once Upon a Time in the West, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

The Triumph of Painting IV, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK

2005 Fairy Tales Forever, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Århus, Denmark

Shadow Play. Shadow and Light in contemporary art; an homage to Hans Christian

Andersen, Kunsthallen Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense, Denmark

The Triumph of Painting Part Two, Saatchi Gallery, London

Baby Shower, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen, Denmark

Schnitte / Cuts, Produzentengalerie, Hamburg, Germany

Imagination wird Wirklichkeit, Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany

2004 Helmut Federle: A Nordic View, Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria

Extended Painting, Victoria Miro Gallery, London

New Blood: New Young Artists, New Acquisitions, Saatchi Gallery, London

Stay Positive: a group show on positivism and abstraction, Marella Arte

Contemporanea, Milan, Italy

Huts, Curated by Tal R and John Hutchinson, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland

2003 TEN Years anniversary exhibition, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen, Denmark

Go Johnny Go! The Electric Guitar – Art & Myth, Kunsthalle Wien, Austria

2002 The Gallery Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Carnegie Art Award, Stockholm, Sweden

Ars Fennica, Henna and Pertti Niemistö Art Foundation, Helsinki, Finland

STOP FOR A MOMENT – PAINTING AS PRESENCE, Wäino Aaltonen Museum

Museum of Art, Turku, Finland And ARKEN, Ishøj, Denmark

2001 Artists from Berlin, Los Angeles and New York, Victoria Miro Gallery, London

Bad Touch, Lump Projects, Raleigh, North Carolina

3a Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Works on Paper: From Acconci to Zittel, Victoria Miro Gallery, London

Gravures de Peintres, Niels Borch Jensen Verlag und Druck, Berlin, Germany

TAKE OFF 20:01, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Århus, Denmark

Xanadu, Forum Box, Helsinki, Finland

2000 Organising Freedom – Nordic Art of the 90’s, Moderna Museet, Stockholm,

Sweden; traveled to Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark

Painterly. The 11th Vilnius Painting Triennial, Contemporary Art Centre,

Vilnius, Lithuania

Duchamp’s Suitcase: perspectives by five European curators, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK

Fuori Uso 2000/The Bridges, Associazione Culturale Arte Nova, Pescara, Italy

1999 Cities on the Move, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark

Scorpio Rising, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany

Expansive og optimistike Øjeblikke, Rhizom, Århus, Denmark

Big Red, Galerie Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Gallery Swap – Contemporary Fine Arts at Sadie Coles HQ, Sadie Coles HQ, London

Carnegie Art Award – Nordic Painting, Konstakademien, Stockholm, Sweden;

traveled to Sophienholm, Lyngby, Denmark; Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway;

Helsingfors Konsthall, Helsingfors, Finland; Listasafn Islands, Reykjavik, Iceland

Proms IV, Kunsthallen Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense, Denmark

1998 The White Loop, Part of “Archipelago” (with Fos and Kaspar Bonnén),Historiska

Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

Momentum, Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moss, Norway

Couples, Galerie Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Hvis det var dig der kom til et fremmed sted, tombola, (with Fos and Kaspar Bonnén),

Aarhus Festuge, Aarhus, Denmark

Carnegie Art Award – Nordic Painting, Konstakademien, Stockholm, Sweeden;

Sophienholm, Lyngby, Denmark; Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway; Helsingin

Taidehalli, Helsinki, Finland; Listasafn Islands, Reykjavik, Iceland

Nordic Nomads, White Columns, New York

It all began in the seventies, Museum of Art Ein Harod, Israel

1997 90’er Modernisme, Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Copenhagen, Denmark

Frisk-o, Kørners Kontor, Copenhagen, Denmark

Kom maj du søde milde, Galerie Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Louisiana Udstillingen, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark

1996 Coming Up, Stalke Galleri, Copenhagen, Denmark

Smile Now, Cry Later, Turbinehallerne, Copenhagen, Denmark

Update, Turbinehallerne, Copenhagen, Denmark

Charlottenborgs Efterårsudstilling: Det Nye Kvarter (with Fos and Kaspar Bonnén),

Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark

1995 The Grand Las Vegas Opening, Las Vegas, Copenhagen, Denmark

Maleri efter Maleri, Kastrupgårdsamlingen, Copenhagen, Denmark

1992 Flag, Hellerup Kunsthandel, Hellerup, Denmark

Hvis det var dig der kom til et fremmed sted, tombola, (with Fos and Kaspar Bonnén),

Aarhus Festuge, Denmark

Carnegie Art Award – Nordic Painting, Konstakademien, Stockholm; traveled

to Sophienholm, Lyngby, Denmark; Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway; Helsingin

Taidehalli, Helsinki, Finland; Listasafn Islands, Reykjavik, Iceland

Nordic Nomads, White Columns, New York

It all began in the seventies, Museum of Art Ein Harod, Israel

SITE–SPECIFIC WORK 2011 Paintings for the lecture hall, KPMG, Frederiksberg, Denmark 2009 Painting for Frederik 8.s Palæ, Amalienborg, Copenhagen, Denmark 2004 Painting ”Et skib er ikke en ø” for Takkelloftets Foyer, Operaen,

Copenhagen, Denmark

COLLECTIONS ARKEN, Ishøj, Denmark ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Århus, Denmark Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, Netherlands Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria Goetz Collection, München, Germany Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark Horsens Kunstmuseum, Horsens, Denmark Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Sweden Moderne Museet, Stockholm, Sweden Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark Trapholt, Kolding, Denmark AWARDS 2005 Eckersberg Medaillen 2002 Carnegie Art Award 2002 Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, Årets Kunstner

TA L

THE SHLOMO T E X T BY M AT T H E W I S R A E L DESIGN BY JOHN CHEIM CHEIM & READ

Printed in an edition of 1,500 on the occasion of the 2012 exhibition Editor Ellen Robinson Photography Anders Sune Berg Portrait of Tal R Noam Griegst Printed in the United States by GHP Media Special thanks to Sofia Veronica Fischer

ISBN 978–0–9851410–5–9