Executed in 2017, Best of All Possible Worlds #18 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.
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
2017 signed, titled and dated ‘"BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS" Part 18/41 Sperling '17’ on the reverse acrylic on shaped canvas 68 x 72 cm. (26 3/4 x 28 3/8 in.) Executed in 2017.