To change, to confound
(Wechseln, verwechseln)
(1983)
Medium
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Measurements
260.5 × 350.5 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased from Admission Funds, 1987
© A.R. Penck /Copyright Agency, 2019.
Gallery location
Level 3, NGV International
About this work
Ralf Winkler’s adoption of the name A. R. Penck on the occasion of his first exhibition in West Germany in 1969 signalled his deliberate attempt to work against an aesthetic identifiable by either name or style. Penck lived under the East German Communist system until 1980, unable to visit the exhibitions of his work occurring in the West or to display his art in the country of his birth. To change, to confound, reflects the psychological effects of postwar German society, exploiting the graphic potential of black and white and the raw strength of the artist’s totemic figures to investigate unequal power structures and highlight the possible aggression that can exist between people.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
IC2-1987
Department
Contemporary Art
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Abstract Art Human Figures
Subjects (specific)
black-and-white (colours) contrast creatures flat (form attributes) geometric shape men (male humans) primitivism (artistic concept) shape (form attribute)
Movements
Neo-Expressionism