April 2009
For the first time, a large exhibition of the Austrian painter Herbert Brandl’s (born 1959) work will be presented to the German audience.
The exhibition at Deichtorhallen includes around 30 large-sized works from the time between 2003 and 2009. Most of the paintings have been created exclusively for this exhibition.
The large pictorial space which often 4 x 3 metres large formats let the observer plunge into visual worlds which iridesce between abstraction and figurativeness.
They leave open both options of consideration. In the paintings, which at first glance appear abstract, figurative thoughts of image are filtered through, which in most cases emerge from distant remembrance of photographies.
Robert Fleck, the curator of the exhibition, describes Brandls’ works as extremely dynamic and energetic due to the fierce conflicts between light and colour as well as between the white of the canvas and the gay colours which are being used.
“As soon as the eye has adjusted to these intense planes of colour and light, it becomes equally evident that their formal language walks a thin tightrope on which abstract, spontaneously drawn lines and connections between planes sometimes appear to be the subject matter of the painting, before a thoroughly figurative approach, characterized by great simplicity, becomes evident at the very next moment, only to dissolve again into the experience of the nonobjective image."
"The eye intends to recognize a thing such as a grass-covered surface, algae moving under water, a mountain, partly covered in clouds, a sunrise or a sunset, yet the abstract imagery immediately again gets the upper hand."
About 15 of the 30 works that will be shown in Hamburg show mountains, often the Mount Everest in various atmospheres, conditions of illumination and stages of abstraction.
Aside, there are pictures of grass and forests as well as entirely abstract works. The drawing of mountains for the sake of painting as a metaphor for the identification with painting and it’s corporeality is not Brandl’s point.
It is rather the question of intensifying the metaphor through his figurative content combined with his mainly monochromatic abstractions or – in other words – through nature and artist conflating into a conclusively mysterious whole which is occasionally translated into a surprsing and expressive pictograph with the aid of a camera or other technical intervention.
This news message is supported by The Bazaar, a marketplace to buy and sell creative objects. Earn more revenue by selling your prints, downloadable images, or custom products. Set up your store today and stand a chance to have your products featured on DesignTAXI, towards millions of lovers of creative content!
