Ferdinand PenkerÕs paintings consist of a series of parallel brush strokes to create a monochrome pattern field. The perfected surface is then broken up by opposing strokes or marks which run against the grain. At first glance this technique has the appearance of contemporary scrape paintings, but a closer inspection reveals a more complex and controlled strategy of mark making. For Penker the canvas is not simply a receptacle for paint but an active element within the work - the negative to the positive and vice versa.

PenkerÕs exhibition at Alfred Camp/97-99 featured a series of Òspatial paintingsÓ, taking the form of clusters of canvases which are then propped or stacked against surfaces of the gallery's main and basement exhibition spaces. Penker has shown widely in Europe, the US and Japan, but this will be his first show in the UK. This exhibition forms part of Fresh Paint, the gallery's painting programme.

Ferdinand Penker was born Klagenfurt, Austria in 1950. Between 1976-87 he worked in the USA, and was a Professor at the University of California in Berkeley and Davis from 1981. Since 1987 he has lived and worked in Styria, South Austria.

This exhibition forms part of , the gallery's painting programme.