Josh Sperling - INTERSECT: Online Auction Hong Kong Monday, March 22, 2021 | Phillips
  • Catalogue Essay

    Executed in 2017, Best of All Possible Worlds #10  is a quintessential example of American contemporary artist Josh Sperling’s distinctive practice, redefining the boundaries between painting and sculpture. Originally included as part of a much larger installation of 41 canvases, these semi-sculptural “lines” are brightly coloured, carefully curled and contoured in a playful aesthetic.

     

    Josh Sperling Best of All Possible Worlds
    Josh Sperling, Best of All Possible Worlds
    Photography by Hugard & Vanoverschelde, courtesy Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels

    Sperling digitally preconceived and subsequently materialised what he calls “composites” of uniformly crafted canvases, smoothed over with acrylic paint. Stemming from Sperling’s longtime fascination with colour and form, his work strongly emulates the minimalist, painterly abstraction language from Keith Haring and his contemporaries, as well as visually references logos in pop culture. These works play with the three-dimensional expectations of the viewer, andalso serve as a revitalised response to the legacy of artists who worked with shaped canvases such as Frank Stella, Ron Gorchov, and Tom Wesselmann.

     

    Sperling's works can now be found in the pretigious collections of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; Arsenal Contemporary, Montreal; and the Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, a testament to his international acclaim.

    • Provenance

      Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels
      Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2017

71

Best of All Possible Worlds #10

2017
signed, titled and dated '"BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS" Part 10/41 Sperling '17’ on the reverse
acrylic on shaped canvas
32 x 176 cm. (12 5/8 x 69 1/4 in.)
Executed in 2017.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
HK$130,000 - 240,000 
€14,000-25,900
$16,700-30,800

Sold for HK$138,600

Contact Specialist

Hin Hin Wong

Associate Specialist, 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Hong Kong

+852 2318 2013

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Charlene Lau

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INTERSECT: Online Auction

Online Auction 23 - 30 March 2021