Artwork measures 70.9 x 106.3 inches (180 x 270 cm). Year of execution 1995/1996.

This stark, monumental work by Martin Assig is executed predominately in dramatic red and black, with a single shaft of pale pigment extending into the composition. Richly textural and semi-abstract, the work shows Assig working in a painterly tradition influenced by both surrealism and early German expressionism.

Martin Assig (b. 1959) is a contemporary German painter. Assig works primarily with encaustic to create his paintings, which often involve collaged patterns, folk art motifs, and text, all combined in a consciously naïve style. Many of his works are overpaintings, in which he has painted over artworks found in thriftstores, allowing some of the original work to show through. Assig also makes sculptures shaped like architectural structures, decorated in fantastical patterns or bright colors. He has had solo exhibitions at Galerie Frank Schlag, Essen, Germany (2002); Galerie Vidal Saint Phalle, Paris, France (2002, 2005); Laurent Delaye Gallery, London, England (2002); Galerie Volker Diehl, Berlin, Germany (2002, 2004, 2008); Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany (2002); Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2004, 2005); and Galerie Tanit, Munich, Germany (2003, 2007). His work is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. He lives and works in Berlin and Brädikow, Germany.