Wolfgang Betke
29 Apr - 01 May 2016
© Wolfgang Betke
Angelus Novus Novus III, 2001-2016
Mixed media on canvas
130 x 170 cm / 51 1/8 x 70 7/8 in.
Angelus Novus Novus III, 2001-2016
Mixed media on canvas
130 x 170 cm / 51 1/8 x 70 7/8 in.
WOLFGANG BETKE
Zeugen des Zustands
29 April - 1 May 2016
Construction and de(con)struction are significant components of Wolfgang Betke’s work. He paints countless layers that are repeatedly revised and reworked. The application of paint and material as well as its removal and reconstruction are processes made visible to the viewer. Betke creates visual tension and consistent depth in his competent use of highly diverse painting methods ranging from raw alla prima to the finest glaze technique. The result is a rich texture with an underlying tension that recurs in his motif and is emphasized by juxtapositions of finely rendered details such as shoes, clothing scraps and amorphous and indulgent spaces of color.
The artist aggressively sands off parts of the paint to the extent that the canvas becomes very thin and perforated. Betke regards the revealed surfaces as layered time. Each painted layer preserves the moment in which it was created and its particular content. When he breaks up the painting with the sander, opening up the lower layers, he is moving backwards in the painting’s timeline, practicing a kind of archeology within the work.
Zeugen des Zustands
29 April - 1 May 2016
Construction and de(con)struction are significant components of Wolfgang Betke’s work. He paints countless layers that are repeatedly revised and reworked. The application of paint and material as well as its removal and reconstruction are processes made visible to the viewer. Betke creates visual tension and consistent depth in his competent use of highly diverse painting methods ranging from raw alla prima to the finest glaze technique. The result is a rich texture with an underlying tension that recurs in his motif and is emphasized by juxtapositions of finely rendered details such as shoes, clothing scraps and amorphous and indulgent spaces of color.
The artist aggressively sands off parts of the paint to the extent that the canvas becomes very thin and perforated. Betke regards the revealed surfaces as layered time. Each painted layer preserves the moment in which it was created and its particular content. When he breaks up the painting with the sander, opening up the lower layers, he is moving backwards in the painting’s timeline, practicing a kind of archeology within the work.