Artwork
Untitled
Untitled is an ink drawing by Charline von Heyl. It dates from 2003 and is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 2003, this untitled work by Charline von Heyl consists of a collage assembled from fifteen separate sheets of paper. The artist combines printed fragments with ink, producing a composition that functions as a drawing despite its mixed-media construction. The piece is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Subject & Meaning
The arrangement presents a fragmented visual field: abstracted faces, tangled vegetal forms, and broken objects emerge from the overlapping sheets. Faint textual elements and schematic outlines—such as a guitar or a building—appear intermittently, suggesting a narrative that is deliberately obscured and reassembled, inviting viewers to contemplate disjunction and reconstruction.
Technique & Style
Von Heyl employs a process of cutting printed paper into irregular shapes, then adhering them in a grid-like layout. Ink is applied both to the surface and the seams, allowing the pigment to bleed across edges and blur boundaries. This layering creates a sense of controlled chaos, characteristic of her approach to constructing complex, layered visual worlds.
History & Provenance
The work was produced in the early 2000s, a period marked by von Heyl’s exploration of collage and drawing hybrids. It entered the Museum of Modern Art’s collection shortly after its creation, where it has been displayed as an example of contemporary mixed-media practice.
Artist & collection
Artist
Charline von Heyl is a German abstract painter. She also works with drawing, printmaking, and collage. She moved to the United States in the 1990s, and has studios in New York City and in Marfa, Texas.
