Perhaps the shortest way to grasp Jana Schröder’s approach to the canvas is to ask this simple question: What exactly are these intertwined, frantic lines writing? The answer you will receive is a resounding “nothing.” And believe me, that very illegibility is precisely what the German artist desires.
Schröder resolves one of the greatest challenges of contemporary painting—the crisis of self-justification—entirely through the physicality of the act of painting itself. While the tangled, frenetic layers of color and paint on the canvas may resemble classical abstract expressionism from the outside, they actually nod to the aesthetics of ordinary handwriting—those unconscious scribbles we make on the edge of a paper during a pensive moment.
On the other hand, I must say that for those who know the artist from her familiar, dignified, and monochromatic canvases of the past, her new works will create a significant shockwave. Schröder is now moving beyond the conceptual color research she achieved especially with the Équipe Tachistoscopique series exhibited at Skarstedt Gallery’s Paris space, embracing a brand-new and daring tonal freedom. For the first time, we are confronted with such vivid, saturated, and “appetizing” colors on her canvases.
The production process in the artist’s studio contains an ironic conflict at least as compelling as the paintings themselves. Before starting each new series, she sets ruthless rules for herself: she chooses a limited color palette or defines a rigid compositional skeleton. However, the moment the brush touches the canvas, she moves to violate and stretch all these boundaries. Behind those scribbles, which appear highly instantaneous and spontaneous from the outside, lies immense self-control and a hidden tension.
The fact that the artist, born in 1983, was trained at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf by a boundary-pushing master like Albert Oehlen, explains this controlled chaos in her practice very well. She is now rewriting the conceptual framework she inherited from Oehlen with her own unique and illegible handwriting on an international stage, stretching from Alfonso Artiaco in Naples to Skarstedt’s London and Paris locations.
The exhibition is open for visitors until May 30, 2026.
Exhibition Details:
- Artist: Jana Schröder
- Venue: Skarstedt Gallery
- Closing Date: May 30, 2026
- Key Themes: Controlled chaos, the aesthetics of illegibility, and the physicality of paint.
