The Primeur series, which is commissioned by the Aargauer Kuratorium, is conceived as a first publication for young Aargau artists. With the third Primeur, Cosimo Gritsch offers us an insight into his current work.
The publication is divided into three volumes. Cosimo Gritsch presents his paintings, which are most concentrated on large-format canvases, on a few cardboard panels glued together. One looks through openworked, colourful checkerboard patterns at the abstract colour compositions underneath, and as the uppermost layer, sweeping, expressive streaks scratch across the entire canvas. Unleashed, the painting also extends to objects made of cardboard. These function as flotsam, to which the exuberant painting transfers its impetus.
Held in small format as a pure book block, the second volume brings together dozens of self-portraits, as Cosimo Gritsch draws them daily on the computer. The pixellated drawing stroke makes the inherently limited form of expression of the medium clear. Accompanied by humorous, ironic, or factual comments, the result is a diary of emotions from which conclusions can be drawn about the artist’s disposition.
The third volume is formed by a folded, uncut print sheet, which reflects an associative narrative flow by the artist about his work. Frequently, situational comics are created that open up philosophical abysses. Parentheses, textual insertions by Marie-Louise Lienhard, make clear the different generations and different approaches and ways of thinking and are at the same time close to each other in their self-understanding.