Roman Opałka: The End is Defined and Darren Almond: Present Form, Christie’s Mayfair, 103 New Bond Street, London, W1, until 18th April 2015
ROMAN OPAŁKA (1931 – 2011)
Opałka 1965/1-∞
Détail 918,554 – 943,954
oil on canvas
77 ⅛ x 53 ⅛ in. (196 x 135 cm.)
Courtesy Archives of the Artist
It is fifty years since Roman Opałka (1931-2011) painted his first Détail work where by painting a white figure 1 in the top left-hand corner of a black background he started counting towards infinity. Each work had a one more percent of white pigment so that by 2008 he achieved his aim of a totally white canvas when he surpassed 5 million. He continued in a world of white until his death in 2011. The last number he recorded was 5,607,249.
ROMAN OPAŁKA (1931 – 2011)
Opałka 1965/1-∞
A pair of portrait photographs
gelatine silver print (detail)
77 x 53 in. (196 x 135 cm.)
Courtesy Archives of the Artist
DARREN ALMOND
Perfect Time (8 x 3)
2012
Twenty four synchronized digital clocks
44 ⅞ x 35 x 5 ⅛ in. (114 x 89 x 13 cm.)
Courtesy of Jay Jopling, White Cube
London-based artist Darren Almond (b. 1971) says ‘I’m fascinated by the idea that whenever anything seems too far away we turn to numbers. We’ll say: a million, billion, trillion, but we can’t really grasp the actual scale of them I’m naturally drawn to numbers…I love the abstract quality of maths and the idea that within the abstract realm everything needs to be in balance. You need to have nothing otherwise you can’t have anything.’
DARREN ALMOND (b. 1971)
Present Form: Ein
2012
119 ½ x 71 ¼ in. (303.5 x 181 cm.)
set of 5 photographs
edition of 1 plus 1 AP
Courtesy of Jay Jopling, White Cube
Tim Forrest's E & A 