Untitled

Tim Ebner
Untitled
Acrylic on canvas, 1984
73 x 57 1/2 inches
Gift of Dr. John Menkes in memory of Joan Simon Menkes
2002.002.002

In his work from the 1980s, Tim Ebner recognized how the idealistic work of late modernism, culminating in pure abstraction, had evolved into design concepts, to the point that such work became identified with being safe and unobtrusive. In fact, such work had shifted from the confines of the avant-garde to the building lobbies of corporations. In Ebner’s work, the pieces are carefully and laboriously executed, each monochromatic section produced through multiple layers of clear or colored resin. The results exude an air of polished mass production, which perfectly mimics the processes of commercial art while actually mocking it. Beginning in 1992, as if having arrived at his end game, Ebner changed his artistic direction, developing a more naturalistic and figurative painting style with a subject matter of animals, such as bears and tigers, in fanciful poses.