Rudolf Stingel, Untitled, 2012 oil on canvas, 243.8 x 204.5 cm / 96 x 80 ½ in, Copyright the artist, courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London
On view for only a couple of more days, Rudolf Stingel’s 2012 exhibition with Sadie Coles HQ takes place in a Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse whose interior looks back to French palatial architecture of the Renaissance. In the chandeliered first-floor ballroom, Stingel has installed a specially-designed carpet which spreads throughout the space. This site-specific installation is the latest in a twenty-year series in which the artist uses expansive carpets to dramatise and collapse the relationship between painting and its architectural contexts. Untitled (2012) hangs alone in an alcove in the manner of an altarpiece or devotional icon. This monumental self-portrait is painted from a photograph of Stingel illuminated by candlelight, which was taken by photographer Roland Bolego. On view until 04 July 2012 Sadie Coles HQ (off-site), 9 Grosvenor Place London SW1