Nick Oberthaler: plains/portals brings a series of new paintings by the Austrian artist to Thaddaeus Ropac in the Marais district of Paris, France. The exhibition focuses on Oberthaler’s ongoing interest in the canvas as a physical threshold, where geometric arrangements meet the suggestion of infinite space.

Visitors will encounter large-scale works that play with perspective, using flat shapes to imply deep architectural or atmospheric voids. Alongside these monumental pieces, the gallery displays smaller works that reveal a different side of Oberthaler’s technique, leaning into gestural marks and a more spontaneous handling of paint.

By placing these contrasting scales together, the show highlights how Oberthaler navigates the tension between the literal surface of the painting and the illusion of a world beyond it. It is a study in how simple geometry can be used to manipulate the viewer's sense of spatial volume within a contemporary framework.

A sophisticated stop for those in the Marais interested in how contemporary painting continues to challenge the limits of the flat surface.

Start with the large-scale canvases to appreciate their spatial depth from a distance, then move to the smaller works for a closer look at the artist's more fluid brushwork.