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Ever since the early 1980s, the conceptual artist Rudolf Polanszky has been reflecting phenomena and findings from mathematics, philosophy and perception theory in his filmic and photographic works, wall objects and large-scale installations. In doing so, he is always on a “search for the undefinable behind systems of order” (https://www.castyourart.com/rudolf-polanszky-translineare-strukturen-.html accessed 8.10.2023). His abstract works, which he calls “translinear structures” in the two-dimensional realm, are created by spontaneously combining existing elements in novel contexts and compositions. Polanszky describes this spontaneously intuitive approach as “ad hoc synthesis”. The starting materials for these “reconstructions” are waste products, used and found objects that he stores, sometimes exposed to the weather for years, before they are used. Traces of decomposition, rotting and decay become a fully intentional part of his works.

This work, created in 2010, likewise belongs to the “Reconstructions” series. Here, too, Rudolf Polanszky starts with raw, used materials, which he places on a canvas in superimposed, mutually reflecting layers like a collage. The two-dimensional design of the surface is undermined by the non-linear process of layering. The artist contrasts light with dark, shiny with matt parts of the picture and brings “the sensual quality of the material properties to the fore” (Kerstin Kren at: https://sammlung.belvedere.at/objects/64953/reconstructions--translineare-strukturen? accessed on 8.10.2023). The random is methodically integrated, the uncontrollable processes of decomposition and ageing are as much a part of the work as the spontaneous gesture. This creates an exciting interaction between materials and structures.

Rudolf Polanszky, whose paintings have also been increasingly in demand internationally in recent years (as is clearly apparent from the price trend), has since 2019 been presented together with Franz West at the prestigious Gagosian Gallery.

(Sophie Cieslar)