Hanns Schimansky

Originally from East Germany, Schimansky is an abstract artist whose primary medium is drawing. Paying particular attention to the paper, he often manipulates it by folding it or, as in the present work, by painting the verso in order to alter the background of the recto. This drawing belongs to the Micro-canonic Orchestra (“Mikrokanonisches Orchester”) series, whose title signals Schimansky's interest in the relationship between drawing and music. Like Paul Klee--another artist drawn to music--Schimansky investigates the movement and rhythmic possibilities of line in complex compositions structured through a succession of shifts and ruptures.