«...I was moving away from that notion of paint applied on the canvas with deliberate actions: left, right, up, down...» Michael Venezia

Häusler Contemporary proudly presents in Lustenau a special group of works by Michael Venezia: in the paintings on view from 1967 the artist first used spray as a painterly technique, a technique with which he significantly contributed to the renewal of painting around 1970. Our exhibition first unites these early works in a public presentation. Against the backdrop of Haus 2226’s special  architecture they fully unfold their aura of innovation. 

The paintings by Michael Venezia (*1935 in Brooklyn, US, lives in Brooklyn and Trevi, IT) that Häusler Contemporary presents in Lustenau give an almost majestic impression with their equal size and upright format. All works are made of several vertical bonds of rather earthy toned paint the surface of which shows different textures – dense, glazing or cloudy. The different structures of these picture planes open up space and depth, entering into dialogue with «be»’s unique architecture and with the surrounding nature that is visible through the similarly narrow upright windows.

Häusler Contemporary unites these works in an exhibition for the first time. They were mainly created in 1967 and they mark a crucial stage in Venezia’s artistic development: in this series he first uses spray gun paint, being one of the first artists who introduces this technique to painting. With this measurement and by «limiting» himself to a uniform picture carrier size, Venezia consciously sets boundaries to the artistic creative drive. At the same time he discovers new freedoms by working simultaneously on several canvasses and by not subordinating his compositions to neither mathematical nor structural criteria.