The Artist’s Dining Room brings together three German artists

working within the tradition of abstraction. The two younger artists, Anselm

Reyle and Thomas Scheibitz, are currently significant figures on the international

art scene, while Manfred Kuttner is an artist who was active in the 1960s,

and whose work, overlooked for many years, is now being reappraised.









All three artists move effortlessly between painting and sculpture, with

an eclectic approach to both form and materials. They play with optical illusions,

shifting perspectives, tricks of the light, mirrors and reflections, often

using new technology, (whether it is the latest developments in paint or

digital image manipulation) to reinvigorate familiar forms.









The title of the exhibition, The Artist’s Dining Room, is taken

from a work by Pablo Picasso from 1918. Though it is an abstract composition,

it also refers to the importance of the domestic and personal realm underlying

an artist’s work. The choice of title is intended to remind us of a key moment

in the history of European Modernism, while pointing to the way in which

the artists exhibited here sample and reference the past.









The Artist’s Dining Room is the third in

a series of five thematic exhibitions located in Level 2 Gallery, Tate

Modern’s dedicated space for the latest ideas, themes and trends in

international contemporary art. The 2006-7 series is conceived and led

by Emma Dexter, Curator, Tate Modern. The

Artist’s Dining Room is curated by Emma Dexter and Juliet Bingham, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern.