Visit the Autobahn online viewing room here
The Hole is pleased to announce Autobahn, our second solo exhibition by Dutch artist Thomas Trum. In this show Trum explores abstraction within a self-imposed set of restrictions to focus on line and color across disparate sizes and media.
With Autobahn, Trum continues his multi-hyphenate practice of drawing, painting, furniture design, murals and public installation. With each body of work he brings a new set of strategies for gesture, drawing and timing. In this show we see more restraint, more economy, more dramatic emphasis per mark: the trace of the machine, like the tracks of a car, is clear and confident. Trum’s latest series of “Duotone” works on paper proceed further, providing a close-up to the lines within the lines.
Intrigued by large industrial equipment such as agricultural machinery—which operates at major scale and power in a rhythmic pattern—Trum experiments with different structures of automation to continuously discover new ways to create. The extensive preparations contrast with the execution of the final work, which sometimes only takes a couple of minutes. These paintings and works on paper are interactions between human and tool, like a choreography, applying the pigment to the surface in the best way possible. You can see the physicality in his works; a movement captured in color.
Trum has a keen understanding of the material qualities of pigment: research into materials and techniques is at the heart of his work. He often develops unconventional tools including giant felt-tip pens and custom-built spraying machines. His works on canvas are applied with a giant handmade squeegee and special ink controlled meticulously by the artist’s hand and body. His drawings are similarly precise, drawn carefully with a super-sized felt pen. A more tolerant process, his wall murals require him to carefully push a custom paint sprayer with a large rotating arm distributing a colorful gradient of hypnotic loops.
Thomas Trum (b. 1989, NL) lives and works in Den Bosch, The Netherlands. He studied at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. His work is represented in public and private collections including the Het Noordbrabants Museum, AkzoNobel Art Foundation and Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. Image above: Het Noordbrabants Museum, 2023.
Four Purple Fan Shaped Lines 2, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 142 x 197 inches, 360 x 500 cm.
Two Purple Lines 53, Acrylic on canvas, 2023, 102 x 132 inches, 260 x 335 cm.
Two Red Fan Shaped Lines 3, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 102 x 132 inches, 260 x 335 cm.
Four Blue Fan Shaped Lines 5, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 102 x 132 inches, 260 x 335 cm.
Four Yellow Fan Shaped Lines 3, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 102 x 132 inches, 260 x 335 cm.
Four Blue Fan Shaped Lines 4, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 59 inches, 190 x 150 cm.
Four Brown Fan Shaped Lines 3, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 79 inches, 190 x 150 cm.
Four Purple Fan Shaped Lines 6, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 79 inches, 190 x 150 cm.
Two Blue Fan Shaped Lines 6, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 79 inches, 190 x 150 cm.
Two Green Fan Shaped Lines 3, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 79, 190 x 150 cm.
Two Yellow Fan Shaped Lines 4, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 79 inches, 190 x 150 cm.
Two Green Lines 54, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 79 inches, 190 x 150 cm.
Two Brown Lines 21, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 79 inches, 190 x 150 cm.
Duotone Shaped Line 1, 2023, Acrylic on paper, framed dimensions: 44.5 x 36.5 x 2 inches, 104 x 84 x 5 cm., unframed dimensions: 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Duotone Shaped Line 2, 2023, Acrylic on paper, framed dimensions: 44.5 x 36.5 x 2 inches, 104 x 84 x 5 cm., unframed dimensions: 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Duotone Shaped 3, 2023, Acrylic on paper, framed dimensions: 44.5 x 36.5 x 2 inches, 104 x 84 x 5 cm., unframed dimensions: 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Duotone Shaped Line 4, 2023, Acrylic on paper, framed dimensions: 44.5 x 36.5 x 2 inches, 14 x 84 x 5 cm., unframed dimensions: 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Duotone Shaped Line 5, Acrylic on paper, framed dimensions: 44.5 x 36.5 x 2 inches, 104 x 84 x 5 cm., unframed dimensions: 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Duotone Shaped Line 6, 2023, Acrylic on paper, framed dimensions: 44.5 x 36.5 x 2 inches, 104 x 84 x 5 cm., unframed dimensions: 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Four Red Fan Shaped Lines 3, 2021, Acrylic on paper, 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Four Brown Fan Shaped Lines 1, 2023, Acrylic on paper, 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Four Green Fan Shaped Lines 5, 2023, Acrylic on paper, 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Four Purple Fan Shaped Lines 4, 2023, Acrylic on paper, 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Two Orange Lines 51, 2023, Acrylic on paper, 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.
Two Blue Lines 53, 2023, Acrylic on paper, 41 x 33 inches, 104 x 84 cm.