Wilhelm Sasnal

Tarnów Train Station, 2006
Oil on canvas 100 x 140cm
Hayward Gallery, London
14 October 2007

I thought the selection of Sasnal paintings picked for the ‘The Painting of Modern Life’ exhibition at the Hayward was excellent and I especially liked the three shown in the downstairs gallery; this view of Tarnów train station, Gas Station 1 and Gas Station 2.

It was at Tarnów station on Monday, 28th August 1939, that a German saboteur left two suitcases packed with explosives in the luggage hall. The bomb exploding killing twenty people and is probably one of the first actions of World War II.

The catalogue suggests that the image depicts African immigrants and guest workers arriving looking for work and draws parallels with the human cargo carried on Polish railways during the second world war[1] . Whichever association Sasnal intended the image has an inherent melancholia that evokes a deep sadness.

It looks like the painting was completed in one session, wet-in–wet. There is a variety of brush marks with thin blended areas complementing thicker passages. What looks like some kind of brutalist sculpture in the foreground, is actually some bushes. These are painted upside down and the paint is allowed to run. The figures in the foreground are against a background of swirling grey brush marks that seem to ooze from the window! A small area of watery sunshine relieves the monotony of the sky behind the station building.

This painting (as is the case with most of Sasnal’s work) is an excellent example of how the removal and abstraction of information through the process of painting has added to melancholic aura of the image.

He works primarily from photographs and whilst the contemporary view of Tarnów station that I have shown isn’t the one that Sasnal used, it does show just how much he has simplified the detail. I find it odd that he missed out the main portico altogether.

The catalogue suggests that this resistance to detailing is tailored to the ‘leaching of individuality’ as capitalism gains more of a foothold but also notes that the effect is to open up the image ‘to new potential meanings as viewers fill in the blank spaces’[2] . I certainly agree with the latter premise, especially as I am conscious that I have a tendency to include too much detail in my own work.

[1 ]Herbert, Martin Rehearsing Doubt ‘The Painting of Modern Life’ Catalogue Hayward Publications 2007 p44
[2] ibid.


©blackdog 2009

Wilhelm Sasnal

Untitled (Kacper and Anka) 2009

Oil on Canvas 180 x 220 cm

Sadie Coles HQ, London
12th June 2009

The press handout says that the twin themes of his new body of work exhibited at Sadie Coles are “food sovereignty and earthly idylls”. It goes on to say how “the paintings of coffee mounds, unmarked barrels, brightly coloured tubs, and a hazy Cuban road: all speak of trade, transportation and global agricultural networks”. Personally I wouldn’t have made the connection between the work and the important issue of food sovereignty, and couldn’t understand why these works would be grouped with paintings depicting “earthly idylls”. However, despite the medium seeming at odds with the message, the paintings were interesting and I have chosen a landscape that is “alluring and yet subtly unnerving”.

This large painting shows a child and a woman standing by a still pool or lake that is filled with debris. The landscape is barren and suggests a beach or industrial wasteland. I suspect that this is painted from his own photograph, and the Anka of the title is the same woman from Anka Smoking 2000. It is interesting that the painting has been extended by a third on the left hand side and the join in the canvas is visible to the eye, if not in this reproduction. This is a key compositional change, as I think the ‘weight’ of the body of water to the left of the child’s reflection adds considerably to the melancholic tone of the painting. The crop of the woman’s head is a definite photographic reference and adds a degree of tension to the image.

The colours are predominantly cool greys with a very cold blue for the refection of the sky on the surface of the water. Most of the brushwork is blended to give a smooth blurred effect but the reflection of the clouds and the bits of debris floating on the surface of the lake are very gestural. Whilst the significance of the scene in hard to discern, the contrast between these interventions and the smooth surface and cool tones draw the eye and focus the attention on the pollution as the subject of the painting. This is reinforced by the stance and gesture of both the child and the woman.

Without seeing the photograph that he worked from we cannot know what has been left out of the painting, but from earlier work I know that he is very selective about the elements included and abstraction of certain details is always a feature of his work. From a distance these abstract marks resolve themselves into the image, but close up the realism dissolves and they are revealed as just paint. For me it is the use of these abstract marks that make the paintings interesting. Clearly they presents a facade rather than the substance of expression, but their use still evokes an aura of compelling melancholia image even though we know that the image is relying on computer generated effects rather than deep seated suffering.

©blackdog 2009

Wilhelm Sasnal
Girl Smoking (Anka)
Oil on Canvas 45 x 50 cm

Saatchi Gallery, London

7th August 2005

I first saw paintings by Sasnal in the "Urgent Painting" exhibition in Paris in 2000 and this one was my favourite. It was a big influence both on how I wanted to paint and my choice of "Backs" as a subject. Since then I have not even been able to see a reproduction of the painting so this was a special day for me.

I must admit I was a little disappointed and felt it lacked the impact it had first had. This may have had something to do with the hang - in Paris it was part of a group of his paintings and was hung in a very dynamic way - here it was one of a group of three similar works conventionally hung in a small side room.

Able to get much closer here, and deduce how it was painted. Clearly drawn beforehand as the sketch is just visible in parts.

Worked back to front, with the figure painted last. Medium thick paint and the brushwork can be seen. Edges are very sharp on the figure and the treatment of the hair is very good. I would say the face was dry before the hair was done. More fuzzy with blending of edges in the background, which gives a good sense of depth. Not frightened of using and showing shorter brushstrokes in difficult area eg between the chin and the shoulder.

Never thought of it at the time, nor made the connection since, but this painting is in effect a miniature Alex Katz. It is also pretty much a one off for Sasnal, most of his work being monochrome and derived from Luc Tuymans' style. Crucially, this brightness of the palette works against the inherent sadness of the image giving us a feeling of anticipation and hope, whereas his usual approach would have changed the mood completely.

Another painting in the same group Girl Smoking (Dominika) 2001, Oil on Canvas 33 x 33cm, is much closer to his usual style of painting and the references to Black and White photography are clear. Also the colour scheme seems to reinforce the use of the burning cigarette as a metaphor for transience and slow decay.

©blackdog 2009