Roman Opalka, Opalka 1965 Detail 3382310-3395601

Oil on canvas, 196 x 135cm

Born in 1931 (Hocquincourt, France). Graduated Beaux-Arts de Varsovie.

Roman Opalka conceptualizes time and life with numerical elements. He started this work in 1965 by painting numbers from the number one on 196 x 135cm canvases with a 0-size brush. Without missing even one day he has ever since continued writing numbers towards infinity. This numerical painting is his single lifelong project. Opalka 1965/1 Detail 3382310-3395601 here runs from 3382310-3395601.

As he writes each number with white on black, Opalka records his voice reading the number. He takes a photograph of a canvas when he has completed it. Each time he changes canvas he adds 1% more white pigment to the background. When he sees that he has messed up a number he goes back to that number and starts again. When he becomes aware of a mistake too late, he just leaves it the way it is. The importance of this is that he builds the world not "the way it should be" but "the way it is."

This ongoing work aims ultimately at white written on white. Together with the concept of time, this single project shows the life of a truly minimalist artist.