Currently on view at Sevil Dolmacı Dubai (Dubai Design District), Sign of the Times is a solo exhibition by established German artist Robert Janitz. Visitors can admire his expressive works, including the newest ones, which explore the semiotic links between the genesis, the origins of human existence, and humanity’s urge to create an image of reality through writing. The show will remain open until 30 April 2024.
With its title inspired by Prince’s song, the exhibition presents Janitz’s bold abstract paintings on linen canvases he produces combining oil and gesso with unconventional materials (flour, egg, and wax). The artist also uses inexpensive brushes from home supply stores, thus rejecting polished pictorialism in favour of raw authenticity, which is also highlighted by the intentionally raw edges of his canvases. To express a sense of movement and dynamism, Janitz’s paintings depict diagonal lines on a gradient background existing in a state of imbalance. Being neither horizontal nor vertical, these lines evoke a tension and capture the moment that tethers between movement and stability.
About the artist
Robert Janitz (b. 1962, Alsfeld, Germany) resides in Mexico City (Mexico). He graduated from Philipps Universität Marburg (Germany) in 1982, where he studied Ethnology, Comparative Religion, Indology, and Art History. Janitz was Visiting Professor of Visual Arts at Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis (France). In 2009, he worked as Professor at École Supérieure Des Beaux-Arts (Cherbourg, France). The same year, the artist moved to the USA.
Janitz’s art draws from multiple sources: the history of portraiture, daily life, his memories, his New York and Mexico City experiences, and the surfaces and textures surrounding him. The artist’s technique that involves layering and texturising results in works oscillating between painting and relief, while his distinctive application of materials blurs lines, encouraging spectators to decipher forms from his tactile surfaces.
Robert Janitz’s work has been the subject of many solo exhibitions: Sphinx (KÖNIG GALERIE, Nave, Berlin, Germany, 2023); Carmina Burrata (San Carlo in Cremona, Cremona, Italy, 2022); Manierismo y Libertad (The National Exemplar, Iowa City, USA, 2021); Change in Paradise (KÖNIG LONDON, London, UK, 2019); Robert Janitz? Lennart Constant? (Root Canal, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2018); and others. He has also participated in numerous group shows such as Elle & Lui (Galerie PACT, Paris, France, 2020); Frozen Gestures (Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland, 2019); Neither (Mendes Wood DM, Brussels, Belgium, 2017); Centro Cultural Borges (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2009), to name a few.
Janitz’s artworks can be found in such esteemed collections as Amorepacific Museum of Art (Seoul, South Korea), Cerámica Suro Collection (Guadalajara, Mexico), Collezione Maramotti (Reggio Emilia, Italy), Goetz Collection (Munich, Germany), Peter and Jamie Hort Collection (NYC, NY, USA), and many others.
To learn more about Sign of the Times, please visit the official web page of the exhibition.
You might also be interested in visiting How to Disappear by Ana Mazzei.
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