30 mars 2020

Find out more about the extensive collection of the Kunstmuseum Basel in our work reviews. Today Anita Haldemann, Head of our Department for Prints and Drawings, describes the work "P 12" by Swiss artist Renée Levi.

Renée Levi (born 1960) is known for her large and partly wall-filling paintings and also likes to use the technique of spraying. Large gestures and physical effort are typical for her. She chooses strong colours and does not hesitate to work with neon paint. For the monotype with the title P 12 the artist has applied intense blue paint with a wide brush on a plexiglass plate. Before that she had taped a field with adhesive tape, whose traces can be seen on the left and right. In the momentum of the movement, however, the artist did not stick to the markings, but continued to paint beyond the tape. The tempo of the brush movement is clearly visible. The blue drawing was then transferred from the Plexiglas plate to paper in a further step using a printing press. This printing is only possible once, which is why the process is called monotype.