David Ostrowski

David Ostrowski, F (A thing is a thing in a whole which it's not), 2013, Acrylic and lacquer on canvas, 95" x 75" (240 x 190cm)

Ostrowski's paintings are deceptive as they initially appear devoid of any content or meaning.[1] Ostrowski pursues "meaninglessness" and "worthlessness" in his abstract paintings, denying perfectionism in conventional oil painting, but with considered viewing, various narratives become apparent.[2][3] Ostrowski's oeuvre depicts vast emptiness, apathetic discouragement, sometimes aggression, and beauty.[4][5]

His paintings are casualist and made using non-traditional techniques, such as spraying fast drying lacquer and are constructed using unconventional materials such as studio detritus and collaged scraps of tape and paper.[6][7] Ostrowski purposely uses quick drying lacquer to prevent himself the ability to edit the works.[4]

Ostrowski has been making art since his early childhood and was creatively influenced by members of his immediate family.[8] He is the grandson of Krystyna Żywulska. His early work explored representational and figurative subject matter. He eventually felt limited by representational painting and he began to make works that were more abstract and minimal.[9]

Ostrowski's work is informed by previous art historical precedents such as abstract expressionism and minimalism.[10] He intentionally incorporates accident, error, handicap, improvisation, and spontaneity into his work.[11] His works are typically made in a large format and display an urgent and handmade aesthetic.[12]

His style is illustrated by the works in his “F” Series paintings;[13] such as F (A thing is a thing in a whole which it's not), which consists of hand sprayed rectangular borders along the perimeter which frame an apparent void.[14] He often sprays the borders using black, burnt oranges, blues, acid greens or canary yellows.[14] The “F” Series paintings are spontaneously made and purposely incorporate awkwardness, error and mistake with the objective of discovering a new type of beauty.[15][16][17] In the ‘F’ paintings – the ‘F’ stands for Fehlermalerei or ‘failure painting’.[18]

Ostrowski's work addresses formlessness and destruction, and an impulse to devalue and ruin painting.[19] He explores nihilistic and casualist strategies of deskilling and disorientation in order to discover new random and surprising outcomes.[20] Ostrowski tries to consciously subvert his art historical knowledge when making a painting in order to allow for unexpected outcomes.[21] Ostrowski's work addresses a subversive sense of Post-Minimalist apathy.[15] Ostrowski has turned emptiness and lack of motivation into his subject matter.[22]

Ostrowski's practice questions the precedents of painting, i.e., content, composition, line, form and color.[23] His sparse, random and uninhibited paintings challenge the definition of what constitutes a completed and successful painting.[18][14] Critic JJ Charlesworth has called Ostrowski's work “endgame” painting, i.e., a process that involves discovering what, if any, marks must still be made on the canvas.[24]

Born in Cologne, Germany in 1981, where he continues to live and work, Ostrowski studied painting under Albert Oehlen at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.

• Das Goldene Scheiß, Raum Für Kunst und Musik, Cologne, Germany, 2005
• Wie Man Aus Einer Affäre Gleich Zwei Macht (with Michail Pirgelis), Raum Für Kunst Und Musik, Cologne, Germany, 2006
• Hulk vs. Hulk (with Max Frintrop), Kunstraum Acapulco, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2007
• 1981 (with Luke Barber-Smith), Parkhaus Im Malkasten, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2010
• Sprechen Sie Dick (with Harmony Korine), Jagla Ausstellungsraum, Cologne, Germany, 2012 (German)[25]
• Yes or Let's Say No, Simon Lee, London, UK, 2013[26]
• F, Artothek, Cologne, Germany, 2013[27]
• Just Do It, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, Italy, 2014 (video)[28]
• How to Do Things Left, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL, 2015[29]
• I Want to Die Forever, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria, 2015[30]
• The F Word, Arken Museum, Ishøj, Denmark, 2015[31]
• To Lose, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren, Germany, (with Michail Pirgelis), 2016 (German)[32]
• Bei Mir Geht Es In Den Keller Hoch, Blueproject Foundation, Barcelona, Spain, 2017[33]
• The Thin Red Line, Sprüth Magers, London, 2018[34]
• David Ostrowski Carl Kostyál Gallery, Milan, 2019[35]
• Menschen, Bilder, Emotionen Leeahn Gallery, Seoul, 2020[36]

• F Paintings. Berlin: Peres Projects, 2013. By Ostrowski. ISBN 9783000441899.
• Auch die schönste Frau ist an den Füßen zu Ende (Even the most beautiful woman ends at her feet). Cologne: Meurer Verlag, 2013. By Ostrowski. ISBN 9783940312044.
• How to do things left. Berlin: Peres Projects, 2014. By Ostrowski. ISBN 9780991177035.
• The F word. Ishøj: Arken Museum of Modern Art, 2015. By Christian Gether and Ostrowski. ISBN 9788778751041.
• Nothing Happened / To Lose. Düren, Germany: Leopold-Hoesch-Museum & Papiermuseum, 2016. By Daniel Schreiber, Ostrowski and Michalis Pirgelis.

Ostrowski's work is held in the following public collections:

• Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy[37]
• Colección Jumex, Fundación Eugenio Lopez, Mexico City, Mexico[38]
• Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden[39]

• Studio program scholarship, Kölnischer Kunstverein and Imhoff-Stiftung, Cologne, Germany, 2012[40]

• Julian Brimmers, On rejecting professionalism: An interview with painter David Ostrowski, The Creative Independent, March 15, 2018