Manuela Knaut – The beauty of the overlooked
Sunday, 11 April 2021
by tom-admin
Brunswick. Yes! That's exactly how I had imagined it. I think, as I enter Manuela Karin Knaut's studio. A mix of paint buckets, paint tubes, spray bottles, oil chalk, wooden slats, canvases, photographs, paper rolls, foils, indefinable odds and ends, and of course splashes of color everywhere you look, reflect the explosive nature of her work in absolutely every corner of the room. Here in this studio there are mixed, stirred and layered materials that have been experimented with. Knaut is one of the most successful artists in the increasingly assertive online art market. Her works, which are now sold in almost every continent, reveal elements of both street art and "objet trouvé" (found objects turned into art) ...
- Published in Graphics, Installation Art, Painting, Studio visits
Marlon Red – In pursuit of the undiscovered form
Sunday, 14 March 2021
by tom-admin
Düsseldorf. In the history of art, the idea of the absolute concentration on the interaction of form and colour – while refraining from any representationalism – is not new. My visit with Marlon Red shows me the fact and reason why this continues to be topical and exciting. A quick look at her paintings and drawings is enough for me to realise her passionate joy of experimenting, which is inherent in each one of her works. Her picture motifs in ever new spatial situations which she is able to design in infinite compositions of lines and colour, applied and processed on the most diverse image carriers, provide surprise upon surprise.
- Published in Graphics, Installation Art, Newcomer, Painting, Performance, Studio visits, Video Art
Louisa Clement – Can physical emptiness be filled digitally?
Sunday, 17 January 2021
by tom-admin
Bonn. Can physical emptiness be filled digitally? How do the interpersonal relationships change in the era of digitalisation? These are questions that occupy Louisa Clement’s mind and have been occupying mine ever since I visited her. I increasingly understand the power of digital communication which currently appears to help us to mainly maintain the contact with the outside world – while the pandemic is raging. “Your Likes made my day “, so popular now, is assuming a worrying underton …
- Published in Digital Art, Installation Art, Mulitimedia, Newcomer, Photography, Studio visits, Video Art
Fabio Borquez – Photography noir? – A studio visit in seven scenes
Tuesday, 15 December 2020
by tom-admin
Before starting in an unaccustomed and unusual way, a short explanation of the idea generating process: I met Fabio Borquez for the first time at the beginning of 2020. The reason was his impressive exhibition Flores del Mal at Schloss Benrath in Düsseldorf. On view were photos of nude women who formed almost symbiotic creatures in artistic productions with flowers. The opulent ambience of the castle created the perfect backdrop.
- Published in Photography, Studio visits, Video Art
Volker Hermes – Hidden Portraits – Just masquerade?
Sunday, 15 November 2020
by tom-admin
Düsseldorf-Unterbilk. Even though his Hidden Portraits, which are creations of photographic art and are currently going through the ceiling, may not suggest it at first glance, Volker Hermes is a painter. Originally his very specialised portraits were not planned as an independent series of works, but merely as studies on the history of painting. Similarly, until July 2020 the artist considered Instagram to be an unsuitable medium for presenting his art. But then everything turned out surprisingly different ...
- Published in Digital Art, Painting, Photography, Studio visits
Sophia Süßmilch – Pure Artist Talk
Sunday, 09 August 2020
by tom-admin
It only needs a fraction of a second and I’m captivated. What a weird photo! The adjoining, relevant, short and snappy profile in the June edition ofart Magazinunder the promising headline “Die Superheldin”1 clinched it for me. Sophia Süßmilch fascinates me immediately. The same day I write her a mail and enquire about a visit to her studio. She promptly replies. It was to become a special encounter ...
- Published in Installation Art, Mulitimedia, Newcomer, Painting, Performance, Photography, Studio visits, Video Art
Laura Aberham – In a vibrant whirl of colour
Sunday, 05 July 2020
by tom-admin
Wuppertal. Even if the sun had not been shining, I am sure that, the moment I entered Laura Aberham’s study, an impression of glorious light would have been created. Bold, vibrant colours wherever you look and an artist who appears to be brimming with positive energy. After she had studied with Jürgen Drescher and Katharina Grosse, she completed her degree at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf as the star pupil of Ellen Gallagher. Immediately after the degree, the Düsseldorf gallery owner Rupert Pfab added her to his program. This was followed by solo exhibitions in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and London. Sometimes all this seems still unreal to her ...
- Published in Newcomer, Painting, Studio visits
Following the footsteps of erasement and preservation – An eerie but local journey with Gregor Schneider
Sunday, 07 June 2020
by tom-admin
Mönchengladbach-Rheydt. This locality is of special relevance to Gregor Schneider. Not only was he born in Rheyd, but he also lives and works here as a sculptor, photographer and film maker. When creating the rooms of the Haus u r*, a family home, his work was essentially born. Since the age of sixteen, he has been building the same rooms into existing rooms, duplicating rooms and objects, or makes them vanish. The construction and fitting of twenty-four of these rooms into the German Pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2001 resulted in him becoming the winner of the Golden Lion award. Since then, they have been exhibited in new, ongoing contexts worldwide ...
- Published in Installation Art, Performance, Photography, Public Art, Sculpture, Studio visits