Soft Gray, 1975

Unique in his artistic style, yet associated with Minimalism, Conceptualism and Pop Art, Richard Artschwager was a painter, sculptor and illustrator whose career eluded categorisation and instead traversed all three associated styles, resulting in his own signature works. Artschwager’s art was often created with the aim of analysing and questioning the relationship between illusion and perception; one of his most notable works, Table and Chair, is a sculpture comprised of two laminate-covered blocks, serving as a depiction of both furniture and of functional items. Prior to his artistic success, Artschwager had founded a business as a furniture designer and manufacturer – this experience remained integral to his later artworks; he often used such construction materials as wood, Formica and Celotex. Alongside his instillations and sculptures, Artschwager was known for the creation of ‘blps’ - an enlarged punctuation mark crafted from horsehair, wood and paint, then subsequently placed in spaces, serving as a linguistic reference. (Artist website)