Katharina Grosse is a German artist based in Berlin. We were captivated by her architectural shapes, and the vivid colors in her paintings. Her process is equally powerful: armed with a spray gun, she covers large canvasses, often close to seven feet heigh, with layers of paint. “I become a different being when I’m spraying,” she said in a recent interview. “I enlarge myself. I’m able to embrace far more than just my bodily presence. I would always start with these very intense yellows and greens and reds because I always assumed that that’s what’s underneath the surface. That’s how I see things. That’s how I see the world. The very strong and raw colors tend to attract or even repulse the viewer. They tend to create certain reactions in a very direct way. To be over-explicit with these raw colors is one of my intentions.” —Thessaly La Force

Untitled, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 84 3/4 x 57 3/4 inches

Untitled, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 84 1/4 x 56 1/2 inches

Untitled, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 83 1/2 x 57 inches

Untitled, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 58 inches

Untitled, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 79 1/4 x 53 1/4 inches

Untitled, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 79 1/4 x 53 1/4 inches

A exhibition of Grosse’s paintings is on display at the Christopher Grimes Gallery until January 8, 2011. It precedes her first major U.S. solo exhibition at MASS MoCA, which opens on December 22, 2010.