Jorge Machold (1940-2015), Untitled, 1973

Jorge Machold (1940 Chemnitz - 2015 Berlin), Untitled, 1973. Color etching, 41.5 x 29.2 cm (plate size), 49.5 cm x 39.5 cm (sheet size), signed lower right in lead “J.[orge] Machold” and dated “[19]73”, identified lower left as copy no. 11/150.
- Minimal foxing and darkening outside the image, the lateral margins with mounting residue on the reverse  



- The archaism of nature -


Against a black background, an amorphous, seemingly naturally grown structure reminiscent of sand and stone appears. A gap roughly bisects it, making the two resulting parts appear like the limbs of a bone. However, because the form cannot be dissolved, it exhibits a primal quality, preceding concrete natural forms. It does not stand out from the black background, but rather, it is connected to it by its similar structure.    



About the artist


After completing an apprenticeship as a mold maker in a foundry and receiving technical training as a designer, Jorge Machold moved to Frankfurt am Main in 1959 and started his career as an artist. In 1964, he relocated to West Berlin. After his first solo exhibition at the Biibobh Gallery in 1967, he devoted himself exclusively to art. Inspired by Antoni Tàpies, Eduardo Chillida, and Mark Tobey, Machold developed a style of abstraction linked to nature. Throughout his multifaceted body of work, he repeatedly experimented with surface structure design in his embossed prints and monumental sculptures. For these pieces, he used dissolved metals, giving them a grown appearance. In addition to the studio he moved into in 1976 in the tower of the former Zeiss-Goerz factory in Berlin-Friedenau, Machold opened a second studio in the Lüchow-Dannenberg district. The extensive garden of this studio was increasingly transformed into a sculpture park. Trips to Japan, Iceland, the Sahara, and the Atlas Mountains provided new experiences with nature and culture that he incorporated into his work. Throughout his career, Machold's works were shown in solo exhibitions and at major international art fairs. In 2008, the art collections of his hometown of Chemnitz organized a major retrospective of his work.