David Ostrowski: Test

Upon entering Test, the solo exhibition of David Ostrowski (b.1981) at the Perimeter, London, one is confronted by Untitled (Letters) FIG.1. It is a large canvas, nearly eight feet tall and six wide, which depicts two bold black letters: an upper- and lower-case T. Suspended above head height, the painting is attached to the railings of the balcony that overlooks the gallery’s entrance, blocking the visitor’s view and hemming them in. Although simply showing large Helvetica letters on a white ground, it – and indeed all of Ostrowski’s works – has a causally scuffed or worn quality. Unlike the rarefied interior of the converted mews house in which it is shown, the work’s surface is far from pristine. This, however, does not mean that Ostrowski’s quasi-abstract paintings are not elegant. For they are, not only compositionally – in their minimal simplicity and attention to detail – but in their spent, melancholic reverence to past traditions of painting.