German painter Marco Kaufmann, exhibited a series of new paintings in 2012 that marked a new stage in his career. Having moved from Berlin to London and familiarised himself with the capital’s grandeur, the Artist experienced a foreign sense of belonging that saw his work develop into expansive conceptual creations.

In his latest paintings the Artist trades bright colours for elegant forms and striking veils of shades. In these works, Marco Kaufmann also explores to a greater extent the empirical effects of colour, apposition, shapes and layers within abstraction. The processes he uses still vary according to unpremeditated circumstances and cause and effect, nonetheless.

It can all start with an optical memory or an idea from the recesses of imagination or a synthesis of both. However, one can perceive a higher concern with the application of paint and the impression of perspective. The palette is mixed but Kaufmann makes greater use of sober colours, giving them more relevance and lustre; only to be punctuated occasionally by black or yellow. The greys mutate into sumptuous textures that resemble concrete or metal, creating illusion with their gradient and granular qualities. The browns recreate sweeping fluidity and the greens beam through the cascaded layers.

The three large paintings (Untitled #4, Drin and Untitled #12) are quite distinct yet connect through the formality of their composition and linear motifs. Untitled #12 presents a large area of brown shades and burnt orange, crystallizing the effect of fluids in motion. The flow can be more complex however. The picture may be abstract but the sensations it evokes are more tangible: skin, sand, water, smoke - a chronicle to Marco's process-meticulous approach to painting.

The smaller paintings (Untitled #1 and Untitled #17) are other examples of the Artist’s different conceptual approaches. Untitled #17 develops around the contrast between colours. Though its real strength arrives with a geometric white form that brings balance for its dissimilar shape and colour. This painting challenges the viewer to discern what is underneath; to look beyond the first layer, leaving an atypical sensation of restlessness.

(Text by Will Furtado, Writer, ILIKEITSTRONG art blog)