Rudolf Stingel an awe inspiring exhibition at the Whitney in New York is a visually tactile experience. Stingel interogates the surface and integrity of painting in several forms, creating an exhibition that at once reflective, velvety, dull, punctured, yet vibrant and constantly radiating.

Golden wall paper of a sultry velour like texture prints, mirrored floors, large black sultry portraits titled Portraits of Sam.

Soiled carpets for wall paper. Abstract paintings of silver varnish layered on red and white grounds. Aluminum foiled walls crowned by a giant crystal chandelier.

The portraits are still and solemn, yet the immense scale make them very imposing. The entrance of styrofoam walls covered in thin aluminum paper to which Stingel invited viewers to incise messages and personalize the walls. Creating a conflict of invitation contrasted in the next room by the imposing Sam.
The use of reflective material on the walls rolled into mirrored floors in a later room. The best job in the Whitney is the security gaurd who alerted all the female skirt wearing visitors that their panties were more a focal point than the paintings!!

Paula Cooper Gallery also exhibited some of his works at Paris FIAC.