In later works, insistent verticals or horizontals, cut and layered canvases, starburst forms and borders give the work structure while Tal R's colour scheme is often restricted to a handful of hues. In his paintings, Tal R has often tempered experimentation with self-imposed restriction in terms of composition and colour palette and his most recent paintings see a significant evolution in his methodology – both compositionally and in the application of paint. Created through a process similar to the historical use of distemper, in which pure pigments are mixed with rabbit glue, the canvases glow with Rothko-like intensity. Limiting opportunity for addition and revision, this new process for the artist has resulted in a series of stripped-down compositions, which he describes as 'moving from the periphery of painting to its centre.'    

At the same time, Tal R has often used the word 'kolbojnik', meaning leftovers in Hebrew, to describe his practice of sourcing and collecting a wide range of imagery, figurative and abstract, from high and low culture. Installed collectively, Tal R’s works can eschew adherence to a single aesthetic style in favour of a non-hierarchical exploration of material and form. He is also known for producing unique, hand-made sofas, or ‘opiumbeds’, which are made from old and new rugs sourced throughout Scandinavia and treated with paint and dye in the studio. Neither the practical purpose of these works nor their aesthetic qualities take categorical precedence. The idea of the opium bed suggests a hazy, latent space of unfettered thinking, the functional object delineating a non-functional space of thought. They represent just one way in which Tal R plays with the porous boundary between art and life.

About the Artist 

Born in Tel Aviv in 1967, Tal R moved to Denmark with his family as a child. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, graduating in 2000, and continues to live and work in the city. 

Recent solo institutional exhibitions include Tal R: The Wrong Side, an exhibition of sculptures and drawings,on view at Artipelag, Stockholm, Sweden (2022). A two-person exhibition, Tal R & Mamma Andersson – About Hill, was recently on view at Malmö Konstmuseum, Sweden (until 1 October 2023) and was previously on display at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark (14 October 2022–10 April 2023).

Solo presentation of the artist’s work have previously been held at Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen, Denmark (2021); Glyptoteket, Copenhagen, Denmark (2020–2021); Magasin III, Jaffa, Israel (2019); Hastings Contemporary, Hastings, UK (2019); MOCAD, Detroit (2019). His major survey Academy of Tal R opened at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in 2017, touring to Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Earlier solo exhibitions have been staged at institutions including ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark (2013–2014); Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (2013); Kunstverein in Hamburg (2011) and Camden Arts Centre, London (2008), amongst others. Tal R held a Professorship at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 2005–2014.

His work is held in public collections including: ARKEN, Ishøj, Denmark; ARoS Århus Denmark; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA; Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, Netherlands; Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, New York, USA; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Goetz Collection, München, Germany; Hammer Contemporary Collection, Los Angeles, USA; Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland; Kunsten, Ålborg, Denmark; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark; Magasin III, Stockholm, Sweden; Moderne Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; ; Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA.