POETIC ABSTRACTION
The group exhibition "Poetic Abstraction" in the rooms of the Frankfurt law firm Schalast LAW I TAX is a consistent continuation of the previous WE.DO.ART. exhibition concept of the law firm. So far, the exhibition series has focused on art-immanent questions such as the significance of the line as a basic design element, the handling of reduction in contemporary art, the dissolution of boundaries in painting or the use of special image carriers and materials.
Many of these issues are also reflected in the works of the artists presented in the exhibition "Poetic Abstraction". They, too, stand in the tradition of modernism and its successors. Thus, there are works with a minimalist vocabulary and lyrical content, works with an unusual interplay of line and surface, or unusual picture supports such as Dimitri Horta's copper plates, which are processed by applying and removing various nitrates and substances in such a way that a completely new, powerful colourfulness emerges, which continues to change for some time after the painting is completed.
What is exciting here is that the moment of abstract poetry, which is inherent in all the exhibited works, often emanates from the artists' engagement with art-immanent questions. Lisa Tiemann's "COUPLE XXXXVI", an object made of glazed ceramics and papier-mâché, whose two opposing strands of material nestle together in the same drawing-like form, not only questions the laws of gravity but also evokes associations with the play of couples.
The proximity of many works to literature, to poetry, is no coincidence: Christina Kral's series "Dawn", for example, of which three works are shown in the exhibition, is inspired by Emily Wilson's English translation of Homer's Odyssey. For her series, she draws on the recurring motif of dawn. As the dawn "always appears, always rosy-fingered, always early" (Emily Wilson), it propels the story forward, bringing forth a new day each day. Thus, in a flowing painting process, 28 individual pictures of the same format (100 x 130 cm) were created, which surprise the viewer again and again through the diversity of the play of colours and forms.
In his abstract reed pictures, Dimitri Horta understands the grasses lining the lake as a "sprawling parable for life". Shimmering and lively, it catches the wind in its rustle and offers shelter to insects and small fish. But not only protection, but also danger lurks in it; it offers snakes or predatory fish rich food. In doing so, he draws on Hegel's philosophy of nature, which understands nature as the "longing ground of a self-understanding". Thus the images, which develop from intertwined lines and organic forms, evoke emotions such as melancholy, longing, confusion, ecstasy or joy and refer to numerous literary texts that use the reed grass as a symbol for these feelings.
George Steinmann's works on paper also reflect his engagement with texts of philosophy, but are also an expression of his preoccupation with texts of the natural sciences. Based on his own holistic thinking, his "mind maps" are to be understood as intimate explorations of essential questions of our time. Using pencil, coloured pencil, plant juices such as blueberry juice, ink and linseed oil, he works on the paper, capturing notes and abstract scientific patterns and transforming them into independent works of art. His reduced "mind maps" in particular express his conviction that art can provide answers to the great challenges of the Anthropocene. In doing so, he does not rely on words, but transfers them into the much more open resonance space of aesthetics.
This is a path that Martin Stoya also follows when he transfers the materials and forms he finds in his environment into new, open contexts of meaning through deconstruction. He detaches his materials, such as tiles, from their concrete context and transfers them to canvas using the frottage technique. The pictorial grids inherent in the material are thereby deformed, bent and placed in new contexts. A further dissolution of the representational occurs through the reduced use of colour and the removal of layers of paint. In the painting process, he works graphite into the canvas, but also uses spray paint, which he applies to the picture support with reduced gestures. An exciting interplay between line and surface, graphic elements and painting is created on the picture surface, so that the pictures appear poetic despite (or perhaps because of) all abstraction.
In his series "Deserts of Exile", the Venezuelan artist Rafael Rangel also poetically addresses his experiences as an exile in the USA. With his gestural-expressive paintings, he takes up thoughts that the Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas expressed in an interview before he reached the United States: "When you flee your country, it's a tragedy, a catastrophe, and there's also a sense of peace because you've been saved, but your home is lost, your house has burned down." Rangel self-describes his Deserts of Exile series as a body of work that explores themes of alien life, exile and displacement. "I believe art begins where conventional language stops. Exile is a scar and a dichotomy that one must learn to live with" (Leonardo Padrón). The large-format work "Desplazados" is shown in the exhibition.
