Unlike traditional painters who rely on oils and acrylics, internationally acclaimed artist Udo Nöger creates stunning abstract compositions by harnessing the transformative power of light itself. In Open Paintings, his third solo exhibition at Callan Contemporary, he debuts a suite of mixed-media works that activate the inner space within the picture plane—a unique and revolutionary technique he began developing in 1997. Each piece begins with layers of thin, tautly stretched canvas, soaked in mineral oils until they are translucent. Within these scrim-like strata the artist embeds shaped forms, which imply sculptural depth inside the recessed compositions. Through myriad opaque layers, light traverses the paintings, reflecting and refracting in a three-dimensional pas de deux of radiance and shadow. Executed in a color palette of delicate whites, neutrals, and grayscale, they emanate a serene, meditative quality, recalling art-historical movements as diverse as minimalism, lyrical abstraction, and Arte Povera.
Based in San Diego, California, the German-born Nöger has exhibited in the leading cultural capitals of the world, among them Paris, Milan, Madrid, Vienna, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Art Institute of Chicago, Margulies Collection (Miami), and Haus der Kunst (Munich), as well as prestigious private and corporate collections. An important recent commission for a San Francisco- based biotechnology firm—the 10-by-50-foot There is No Time But There’s Day and Night—is his most monumental work to date.
The Callan Contemporary exhibition will feature paintings spanning a range of scales, complemented by a selection of more intimately sized graphite and charcoal works on paper. These drawings, part of a decades-long practice parallel to Nöger’s evolution as a painter, were created in the winter of 2022/23, during a period of intense productivity. They depart from pure abstraction to incorporate suggestions of figuration and landscape. In the mixed-media paintings on canvas, shimmering ovular forms hover over backgrounds bisected into Hard Edge planes, superimposing the organicism of gestural abstraction over the structure of rectilinear geometry. In concert, these divergent idioms unite in a harmonious, intuitive whole, inviting viewers into a welcoming interior space, conducive to focus, contemplation, and aesthetic enjoyment.
by Richard Speer
