‘The only constant in my work is my systematics.’ Order rules in Swiss artist, Beat Zoderer’s often sprawling works. But, his long held interest in line, pattern and structure almost cloak the fact that many are made from the everyday plunders of general hardware stores. S-chanf’s von Bartha have just opened an exhibition, that looks at his last three decades of grid works.
Whilst these pieces display an order that at times looks obsessive, it is the element of flaw and disruption within pattern that really governs Zoderer’s practice. There are obvious nods to modernist painting, but the works bear the signs of contemporary art, many made from readily available materials such as office supplies, hardware wood and sheet metal.
The artist often experiments with a sculptural quality, in pieces such as Prägestück No.1 (Coined Piece No.1), made from oxidised copper sheet that has been raised and hollowed by hammering, and Bodenzeichnung No.2/09 (Floor Drawing No. 2/09), an enormous work that is laid on the floor, offering itself up to be walked across, its ink-black reflective background drawing in the surrounding forms.
In recent years, Zoderer’s work has often been bathed in colour, with stripes of vibrant primaries and secondaries producing a loud clash as lines intersect. Again, this serves to create a sense of chaos amongst the structure, humming a little too loudly to function purely as a geometric investigation.
Beat Zoderer, Raster: Grid Works from Three Decades is at von Bartha, S-chanf until 5 September 2015
