André Butzer
09 Jul - 14 Aug 2010
ANDRÉ BUTZER
09.07. - 14.08.2010
The artist André Butzer, who was born in 1973 and today lives in Rangsdorf near Berlin, has achieved an international reputation with works that he describes as „Science Fiction Impressionism“. The colours and their use, which is sometimes lavish yet still very controlled, distinguish these works from the very first glance.
In his fourth individual exhibition in the Galerie Bernd Kugler, André Butzer presents seven new small and medium-format oil paintings. With his staged impulsive brush and finger strokes, he combines pictorial dynamics and precision. Again and again the real and unreal are paired as a common abstraction of the deadly illusory world and electronic consumer society of our time. Like cogs, the line structures or technical excesses often extend over the coloured areas applied as lines in the style of Paul Cézanne, from which the elements defining the composition, in other words, new undefined future areas, unfold and then become the governing power factor in the picture. Thus in these works an inorganic-organic interaction is created; a comical calculation of strict but human geometry and apparent arbitrariness.
An essential part of the most recent work by André Butzer is the constant generation of new image forms without allowing a purely visible concretization in the conventional theme. The whole picture is the theme. Pseudo-narrative titles such as «Hui Buh!» (2009) or «Rote Schlümpfe» (Red Smurfs) (2009) possibly refer to stolen childhood dreams, from which, however, very alienated bodies emerge here in the form of conflict-laden colours and never the over-painting denoting objects. It remains unclear what structures are behind the pictures, for it is just painting.
In these works, abstraction and figuration do not create an identifiable conflict situation. Instead, they appear more to need each other, in other words, they do extinguish each other completely here because both sides have always been different and abstract in their own way. The works displayed in the Galerie Bernd Kugler become a candid plea for the enduring need for coloured compositions, born from a material of total abstraction, from the ready-made of colour: a holy substance that has become a verifiable vehicle of historical dimensions and tragedy since the High Renaissance in the Italy of the 16th century at the latest.
“André Butzer’s 7 new pictures have been meticulously painted on well-intentioned, somewhat smaller-appearing canvases which have gradually in slow motion, or even here and there at a so-called snail’s pace, been covered with absolute abstraction. With his three little fingers, the micro-colourist “Butzner” has tuned the colour properties upwards (towards the sky), almost too perfectly however, with the result that he feels that these properties, from today’s perspective, have almost acquired too much power of definition again over the visual data, or vice versa! I.e. everything you see here should, in actual fact, remain invisible – sounds strange, but that’s the way it is. The main thing is that people like it. On his behalf, I would particularly like to draw attention to the picture “Phantom von der Firma Langnese” (Ghost from the company Langnese) which is why we had it printed on the invitation card. It’s a very interesting picture and it urges people to look at it, indeed to dream. A kind of foliaceous atmosphere, impressionistic, no, rather more in the manner of a modern express train adornment. The religious painting of today or, to be more precise, of tomorrow, can therefore also look like this. We, his audience, are waiting with baited breath to find out how things will develop with the abstract art. Truly a great painter. Absolutely inspiring!”
Phillip Schwalb
Director (ret.)
FRIEDENS-SIEMENSE CO.
P.S. By the way: Christopher Wool is as queer as they come. 4.5 million dollars is not a cent too much for this guy! Yawn!
09.07. - 14.08.2010
The artist André Butzer, who was born in 1973 and today lives in Rangsdorf near Berlin, has achieved an international reputation with works that he describes as „Science Fiction Impressionism“. The colours and their use, which is sometimes lavish yet still very controlled, distinguish these works from the very first glance.
In his fourth individual exhibition in the Galerie Bernd Kugler, André Butzer presents seven new small and medium-format oil paintings. With his staged impulsive brush and finger strokes, he combines pictorial dynamics and precision. Again and again the real and unreal are paired as a common abstraction of the deadly illusory world and electronic consumer society of our time. Like cogs, the line structures or technical excesses often extend over the coloured areas applied as lines in the style of Paul Cézanne, from which the elements defining the composition, in other words, new undefined future areas, unfold and then become the governing power factor in the picture. Thus in these works an inorganic-organic interaction is created; a comical calculation of strict but human geometry and apparent arbitrariness.
An essential part of the most recent work by André Butzer is the constant generation of new image forms without allowing a purely visible concretization in the conventional theme. The whole picture is the theme. Pseudo-narrative titles such as «Hui Buh!» (2009) or «Rote Schlümpfe» (Red Smurfs) (2009) possibly refer to stolen childhood dreams, from which, however, very alienated bodies emerge here in the form of conflict-laden colours and never the over-painting denoting objects. It remains unclear what structures are behind the pictures, for it is just painting.
In these works, abstraction and figuration do not create an identifiable conflict situation. Instead, they appear more to need each other, in other words, they do extinguish each other completely here because both sides have always been different and abstract in their own way. The works displayed in the Galerie Bernd Kugler become a candid plea for the enduring need for coloured compositions, born from a material of total abstraction, from the ready-made of colour: a holy substance that has become a verifiable vehicle of historical dimensions and tragedy since the High Renaissance in the Italy of the 16th century at the latest.
“André Butzer’s 7 new pictures have been meticulously painted on well-intentioned, somewhat smaller-appearing canvases which have gradually in slow motion, or even here and there at a so-called snail’s pace, been covered with absolute abstraction. With his three little fingers, the micro-colourist “Butzner” has tuned the colour properties upwards (towards the sky), almost too perfectly however, with the result that he feels that these properties, from today’s perspective, have almost acquired too much power of definition again over the visual data, or vice versa! I.e. everything you see here should, in actual fact, remain invisible – sounds strange, but that’s the way it is. The main thing is that people like it. On his behalf, I would particularly like to draw attention to the picture “Phantom von der Firma Langnese” (Ghost from the company Langnese) which is why we had it printed on the invitation card. It’s a very interesting picture and it urges people to look at it, indeed to dream. A kind of foliaceous atmosphere, impressionistic, no, rather more in the manner of a modern express train adornment. The religious painting of today or, to be more precise, of tomorrow, can therefore also look like this. We, his audience, are waiting with baited breath to find out how things will develop with the abstract art. Truly a great painter. Absolutely inspiring!”
Phillip Schwalb
Director (ret.)
FRIEDENS-SIEMENSE CO.
P.S. By the way: Christopher Wool is as queer as they come. 4.5 million dollars is not a cent too much for this guy! Yawn!