Where to See Tomma Abts

Tomma Abts's works can be viewed in several museums and galleries around the world. These include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles; the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York; and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts at 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis. Other locations include the Museum of Modern Art at 11 West 53rd Street in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum at 100 Queens Park, Toronto, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts at 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond. In Europe, Abts's art can be seen at the Bakelite Museum, Orchard Mill, Williton; Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton; the Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road, London; Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester; the National Museums of Scotland-Royal Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London.

Tomma Abts is known for abstract paintings, but she also produces screenprints that relate to her larger practice. When collecting prints, it is important to consider the printing process, the materials, and how these might affect the work's condition over time. Many photographic processes have been used, with varied results, and prints, like photographs, can be subject to degradation from light exposure or poor storage. Edition sizes can vary widely, and this affects the value of a print. The art market sometimes sees price variations in contemporaneous sales of the same print; this can be due to condition, but also to unpredictable factors. Some photographic printing methods from past decades have proven sensitive, with colours changing after only a few years. Platinum and silver gelatin prints are considered robust. It is generally recommended to avoid direct sunlight, use acid-free materials for storage, and frame prints behind museum glass.

Tomma Abts's art is important because it expands the possibilities for abstract painting. Her works do not represent external reality; instead, they are self-contained visual systems. Abts's paintings feature carefully constructed geometric forms and subtle colour palettes. These elements combine to create compositions that invite close observation and contemplation. Her approach to abstraction sets her apart from earlier movements. Rather than expressing emotions or exploring spiritual themes, Abts focuses on the internal logic of the painting itself. This emphasis on formal elements and internal consistency has influenced younger artists interested in non-representational art. By prioritising the autonomy of the artwork, Abts challenges conventional notions about the purpose and meaning of painting. Her art encourages viewers to engage with the visual experience on its own terms, rather than seeking external references or narratives.

Without reference to Tomma Abts specifically, the techniques and materials available to artists are wide-ranging. Painters have used natural or chemical pigments in fresco, egg tempera, watercolour, and oil paint. Acrylics, household emulsions, and mixed media are more contemporary options. Mixed media refers to artworks using a range of different materials. Sculptors have traditionally used wood, marble, and bronze. Contemporary sculptors also use cardboard, plastic, and everyday household items. Techniques include applying oil paint thickly in impasto or thinly in glazes. Brushwork may be fine, disguised, or thickly applied with a palette knife. Stencilling is another option. Sculpture involves carving and modelling. Carving is a subtractive process, while modelling, assemblage, and casting are additive processes. Some artists use readymades and found objects. In glass painting, artists scratch out light contours. Washes are often applied to the verso (the side facing outwards). Silver stain can be used to create colours from lemon yellow to saturated golden yellow, depending on the thickness of application.

It is difficult to say definitively who Tomma Abts has influenced, as this requires analysis of developing artists and their inspirations. However, we can examine artists who explore similar themes or methods. Abts is a contemporary abstract painter; other artists working in abstraction during the postmodern era include Julian Schnabel, Elizabeth Murray, Song Su-nam, and El Anatsui. Murray experimented with alternate shapes, rather than the standard rectangle. Anatsui is known for artworks that exist somewhere between sculpture and textile design. Another artist, Tobi Kahn, equivocates between abstraction and reality. Kahn draws inspiration from the formal qualities apparent in the work of American modernists such as Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Milton Avery. He also acknowledges Alberto Giacometti and Martin Puryear as important influences.

Tomma Abts, born in Germany in 1967, creates non-representational paintings exploring colour and space. Her technique involves a labour-intensive layering of paint, often reworked intuitively over months on small canvases of consistent dimensions. Like Jasper Johns, Abts is interested in a painting as both image and object, representing nothing beyond itself. Another possible influence is the Bauhaus school, particularly Josef Albers's teachings. Albers, who taught at Black Mountain College, distinguished between material studies (Materialstudien) and matter studies (Materienstudien). The former focused on the structural nature of materials, while the latter emphasised the appearance and feeling of texture. Albers stressed the importance of colour interaction and the objective experience of colour, ideas that resonate with Abts's focus on colour and form. The Bauhaus approach encouraged an understanding of materials and their inherent qualities, potentially informing Abts's method of layering and manipulating paint to create subtle shifts in depth and movement.

Tomma Abts, born in Keil, Germany, in 1967, is known for her non-representational paintings. Her works explore colour and space through subtle shifts, creating movement and depth. Abts's paintings feature sculptural shapes that appear to float on planes of teal blue and green. These geometric forms do not symbolise anything; instead, they focus on the painting as both image and object. Her labour-intensive technique involves applying thin layers of paint, over-painting repeatedly as she intuitively works on a single canvas, often for months. The titles of Abts’s works are derived from German first names. She typically creates small canvases, always of the same size. An example of her work is Uphe (2011), an acrylic and oil painting on canvas.

It is difficult to assign Tomma Abts to a single style or movement. Her work has connections with geometric abstraction, which developed from the Bauhaus tradition. Geometric abstraction is a sober art, bearing no personal signature and no trace of craftsmanship. It is based on the ideas of the Constructivists and the De Stijl group, following in the footsteps of the abstraction-création movement of the 1930s. However, Abts's work diverges from pure geometric abstraction in significant ways. Some critics see her work as aligned with contemporary abstraction, which maintains a dialogue between the artist and exterior forces. Younger artists are emphasising more narrative content in abstraction. Ultimately, Abts's individual approach resists easy categorisation.