Paul Klose

PAUL KLOSE (Denmark, 1914-1993)
S/t, 1982.
Oil on canvas.
No stretcher frame.
Signed and dated on the back.
Measurements: 103 x 170 cm.
In this work the author uses an abstract language, based on geometry, of strict character. It is an open style, whose basic characteristic is the conception of the pictorial surface as a whole, as an open field, without limits and without hierarchy. Thus, as we see here, the pictorial forms are the result of a thoughtful composition and experimentation, with an image of gestural character.
Originally from Denmark, Paul Klose arrived in Caracas in 1950, at a time when geometric abstract art was experiencing a remarkable boom. However, he was not influenced by this trend. He came from Paris, where he had worked for a time in figurative painting of neo-expressionist inspiration. It was with this style that he became known in the Venezuelan artistic milieu, participating in the official salons from 1957 onwards.
The intense light of the tropics affected his visual perception. The whites and blues typical of the Caracas atmosphere began to dominate his palette, becoming essential elements that remained constant in his artistic production.
Unlike artists focused on the optical and sensorial experience of color and movement, Klose remained aloof from both these concerns and the use of emerging technologies. He preferred sober harmonies, of muted and matte tones, where grays in their various variants play a key role. His compositions are conceived as closed structures, centered on flat forms whose balance arises from the dynamic interplay between shapes and colors, as well as from the interaction between positive and negative planes. In these spaces, the traditional distinction between figure and background, horizon line or perspective disappears. The planes alternate and transform, generating a visual ambiguity that allows the eye to perceive background and figure, closeness and remoteness, interchangeably. However, this does not prevent Klose, at times, from suggesting illusory volumes that subtly merge with the pictorial background.
His work emerged later and not as an extension of that process, but as an individual proposal, with no direct historical connection, based on the principles of universal neoplasticism. In spite of this, his work has been incorporated into the evolution of Venezuelan art, and his more mature stages are recognized within this artistic context.