Lord Tanger

With its vivid explosion of colour, form and texture, Lord Tanger is a dynamic early work by Tal R. Spanning two metres in both height and width, it demonstrates the bold, playful multi-media language for which he is celebrated. Acrylic, spray paint, wax crayon, chalk and pencil intermingle freely across the canvas, creating a swirling panorama of abstract, semi-anatomical forms. Executed in 2000, the work takes its place within a series of compositions titled after fictional ‘lords’, including Lord Madras, Lord Tirsdag and Lords of Kolbojnik. The latter term – meaning ‘leftovers’ in Yiddish – became a guiding principle of Tal R’s art, capturing his fragmentary approach to materials, influences and ideas. The present work certainly bears witness to this notion, presenting a bacchanal of symbols, techniques and indecipherable narratives. Conjuring aesthetics ranging from primitive cave art to Fauvism and contemporary graffiti, it offers a glimpse of the curious twilight zone that defines his practice.

Born Tal Rosenzweig in Tel Aviv in 1967, the artist was raised in Denmark, where he later attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. As a child, he frequently felt like an outsider among his peers, finding refuge in drawing: an activity he subsequently likened to dreaming. The sense of existing between worlds would come to underpin his practice, where surreal, enigmatic visions collided with flickers of known reality. Though inspired by artists including Henri Matisse and Philip Guston, he was ultimately guided by his own imaginings, evoking scenes and characters both familiar and alien. ‘Dreams break down the conventional concept of space and time’, he has explained. ‘… Art is very similar to this. It is able to reveal certain aspects of human nature that other disciplines can’t. That is what makes it so important for society, because it is the “ghost” in the machine’ (Tal R, quoted in M. Wuergas, ‘In the Studio: Tal R’, www.collectorsagenda.com).