Emil Michael Klein

Paintings presents a recent series of works by Emil Michael Klein. These large-scale oil paintings on canvas, executed from 2013 to 2016, are transformed here by the medium, format and reduced size of the printed book. Designer Teo Schifferli has brought together the artist’s own selection of 30 high-quality art prints of his paintings, including different takes and angles on those canvases, as well as other stand-alone works by Klein.

Emil Michael Klein’s main object here is to explore and intermingle the contrasting processes of printing and painting within the specific format of an artist’s book. The arterial web of colored lines and monochrome color fields in his paintings evokes the formal and chromatic effects of printed artwork. Klein delves into these similarities – as well as differences between the two artistic media – and his ambivalence about switching from one to the other. Besides grappling with the perennial problems involved in turning originals into reproductions, this artist’s book asks how images are viewed and disseminated.

Based on his concept of serialism and variation as well as abstract painting, Emil Michael Klein provides only brief captions to the pictures: they need no accompanying text, commentary or explanations.