Interventionist Demonstration (Why-A-Duck?)

2013

Charline von Heyl
German, born 1960

“I push things to the point where I have no idea what’s going to happen,” painter Charline von Heyl has said. “I am interested in trying out something that might seem paradoxical and impossible … forcing them to work with grace and ease.” At 17 feet long, the elaborately titled Interventionist Demonstration (Why-a-Duck?) is her largest work to date. Part text and part painting, the canvas layers scrawled language and patterns over a field of loose, abstract gestures—like banners or bumper stickers tumbling and jostling across an atmospheric surface. The work generates a palpable energy, while harboring half-buried references to histories of the cartoon, graffiti, decorative painting, and expressive abstraction.

Status: On View, Gallery 293
Department: Contemporary Art

Artist: Charline von Heyl
Title: Interventionist Demonstration (Why-A-Duck?)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 2013
Medium: Acrylic and spray paint on linen
Dimensions: 211.1 × 494 cm (83 1/8 × 194 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Helen and Sam Zell
Reference Number: 2015.87

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