Dimensions: support: 1232 x 1026 mm frame: 1350 x 1139 x 91 mm
Copyright: © Frank Auerbach | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Frank Auerbach's "To the Studios" really explodes off the canvas, doesn't it? Its current home is here at the Tate. Editor: It overwhelms me a bit, to be honest. The thick impasto feels almost claustrophobic, like a city pressing in. Curator: Auerbach’s handling of paint serves as a record of his daily journeys through post-war London. His commitment to place is central to understanding his work. Editor: Absolutely. The layered paint mirrors the city's evolution, the constant rebuilding, the way communities shift and change. You can almost feel the grit. Curator: And it's through these layers that Auerbach finds his subjects, a way to locate meaning in the everyday. Editor: Yes, and in doing so, he also asks us to consider the place of the artist in that context. How are we implicated in these processes of reconstruction? Curator: A powerful question, and one that resonates deeply in the 21st century. Editor: Indeed, leaving me to consider who benefits from these acts of renewal and at what cost?
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'There is a sort of magic in conjuring up a real place', Auerbach has said. In the late 1970s, he began painting the path leading to his studios in Camden Town, north London. His familiarity with the setting allowed him 'a kind of intimacy and excitement and confidence that comes from inhabiting the painting and knowing exactly where everything is'. The literal appearance of the location is transformed by the artist's expressive brushwork. Over nine months, Auerbach repeatedly scraped down and repainted the surface until the final image was achieved. Gallery label, September 2004
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