Anselm Reyle, 1970

Born in Tuebingen, Germany, Anselm Reyle pushes the limits of material variety and utilization, achieving results mainly by the guidance of the material itself. The artist’s compositions, instead of relying upon the classical mentality of painting and sculpture, gains depth through the scale of their material. In Reyle’s art, fluorescent colors, found objects, and shiny objects like folios and mirrors purvey striking visuals. These materials densify on the canvas as a result of the artist’s randomized movements, turning into a form in between a three-dimensional painting and a sculpture. In his recent work, Reyle produces series of ceramic sculptures using an experimental practice where he tampers with the potentials of glazing techniques and clay, interfering with the material before the curing process with an intuitive impulse.  

Used as a glazing technique in the 1960s, the term Fat Lava represents cheap ceramic vases that were industrially introduced in West Germany in the later years. In the 1970s, quickly transformed into “kitsch” products and took their place on the stalls of flea markets. Reyle’s works “Atop an Underworld” and “Dust Falling” are part of the series he created using the form of Fat Lava vases.