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Anton Stankowski (1906–1998)
Square or Cross,1987
Acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm |
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Stankowski was an important instigator in the new Concrete Art movement in 1930s Switzerland. His work’s exact constructions, taking up ever more encompassing spaces, connected him to the Zurich Concretes. Through his work with representing perspective and space, the visualization of issues like quality-quantity and frequent shifts in image topics, he lies a bit outside this group.
The painting Quadrat oder Kreuz (Square or Cross) seems like a multicolored mosaic of small squares arranged into crosses within color families. In each row or column, three crosses are organized that are interlocked with the neighboring forms into a grid. A very lively but still cohesive, closed surface is the result.
The construction of the individual modules is reminiscent of a 1969 painting titled 25 x 25 Felder, which hearkens back to a confrontation with computer technology. To show that a computer cannot create an artwork without the creative power of an artist, he purposely added elements that stray from the system in his “anti computer painting”- without which the painting would not have the same expressive effect. |
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1906
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born in Gelsenkirchen
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1921–26
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apprentice and journeyman as a church painter
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1926–29
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Student of Max Burchartz at the Folkwangschule in Essen
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ab 1926
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Abstract paintings and collages
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1929
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Meets Max Bill, Richard Paul Lohse and Fischli in Zurich
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1931
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Member of the Das Auge group
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Seit 1937
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Painter, graphic artist and press photographer
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1964
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Guest lecturer at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Ulm
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1998
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death in Esslingen
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