Holger Endres
09 Sep - 24 Oct 2009
HOLGER ENDRES
09th September - 24th October 2009
Five large format, black paintings in a room. Acrylic and enamel paint on cotton with a format of 210 x 150 cm. The consistent black stripes on the image surface, all created using the same brush, appear restless and seem to be communicating with one another. The paintings possess an extraordinary presence and yet, at the same time, they deny their own existence, try to elude being observed.
In his pictures the artist Holger Endres unlocks doors creating spaces which remain hidden at first glance. He does not allow himself much free room. The format and the form of creation have been rigorously selected – the result, however, has to remain open; it cannot, in any case, be controlled. In his paintings Endres devotes his full concentration to the lines and the non-colour black. Black, to him, is a colour which is neutral, yet at the same time full of energy. The absence of light creates a sense of emptiness. The observer should focus on the characteristics of the brush strokes and what might possibly be lying “behind”.
Endres deliberately avoids the use of auxiliary materials in his creations. He wants the canvas to be as rough as possible; a transparent prime coat, at the very most, is all that is permitted. A coloured undercoat would be a finished picture per se. The black lines are painted freehand; the only point of reference is the canvas itself. The paintings’ various textures are engendered by this impressive feat of concentration. The vertical brush strokes, which flow from top to bottom, are repeatedly interrupted before re-beginning, thus creating a delicate balance between colour loss and density. Each individual picture appears arbitrarily assembled like old film material that has been edited several times over. It fluctuates, confuses the eye and creates idiosyncratic patterns which are accentuated by the lighter trailing-off of the brush stroke. There is no re-working or modification in this form of direct painting. The immediate is made visible; the process behind the creation of the picture is clearly laid open to the observer.
Each of the five pictures is part of one big whole. The lines have the potential to expand in any direction; it is only the canvas that creates a boundary. This spatially and temporally very rigid form of creation results in the pictures becoming a part of the artist himself. And, in the same way that it would be inappropriate to label the various stages of one’s life, the works likewise do not carry a title. It is left to the observer alone to identify and name the picture. However, because the painting’s structure has been disburdened of any message, the observer is initially excluded from the pictorial space. At first glance the pictures appear unapproachable, they seem to represent nothing more than a cohesive surface with black lines containing no focal point or nexus. Communicating with them from a distance seems an impossible task - any attempt seems to recoil. However, a sustained dialogue eventually allows the observer to recognise the unique, distinctive quality of each picture and, little by little, to discern the distinctions. The observer moves closes and, like “Alice Behind the Looking Glass”, he is drawn into what is “behind”, a secret world in which he can distinguish only those shapes and patterns with which he is familiar. It is a human reflex – the pursuit of recognisable patterns is a universal given of the human psyche.
Holger E. Karst
09th September - 24th October 2009
Five large format, black paintings in a room. Acrylic and enamel paint on cotton with a format of 210 x 150 cm. The consistent black stripes on the image surface, all created using the same brush, appear restless and seem to be communicating with one another. The paintings possess an extraordinary presence and yet, at the same time, they deny their own existence, try to elude being observed.
In his pictures the artist Holger Endres unlocks doors creating spaces which remain hidden at first glance. He does not allow himself much free room. The format and the form of creation have been rigorously selected – the result, however, has to remain open; it cannot, in any case, be controlled. In his paintings Endres devotes his full concentration to the lines and the non-colour black. Black, to him, is a colour which is neutral, yet at the same time full of energy. The absence of light creates a sense of emptiness. The observer should focus on the characteristics of the brush strokes and what might possibly be lying “behind”.
Endres deliberately avoids the use of auxiliary materials in his creations. He wants the canvas to be as rough as possible; a transparent prime coat, at the very most, is all that is permitted. A coloured undercoat would be a finished picture per se. The black lines are painted freehand; the only point of reference is the canvas itself. The paintings’ various textures are engendered by this impressive feat of concentration. The vertical brush strokes, which flow from top to bottom, are repeatedly interrupted before re-beginning, thus creating a delicate balance between colour loss and density. Each individual picture appears arbitrarily assembled like old film material that has been edited several times over. It fluctuates, confuses the eye and creates idiosyncratic patterns which are accentuated by the lighter trailing-off of the brush stroke. There is no re-working or modification in this form of direct painting. The immediate is made visible; the process behind the creation of the picture is clearly laid open to the observer.
Each of the five pictures is part of one big whole. The lines have the potential to expand in any direction; it is only the canvas that creates a boundary. This spatially and temporally very rigid form of creation results in the pictures becoming a part of the artist himself. And, in the same way that it would be inappropriate to label the various stages of one’s life, the works likewise do not carry a title. It is left to the observer alone to identify and name the picture. However, because the painting’s structure has been disburdened of any message, the observer is initially excluded from the pictorial space. At first glance the pictures appear unapproachable, they seem to represent nothing more than a cohesive surface with black lines containing no focal point or nexus. Communicating with them from a distance seems an impossible task - any attempt seems to recoil. However, a sustained dialogue eventually allows the observer to recognise the unique, distinctive quality of each picture and, little by little, to discern the distinctions. The observer moves closes and, like “Alice Behind the Looking Glass”, he is drawn into what is “behind”, a secret world in which he can distinguish only those shapes and patterns with which he is familiar. It is a human reflex – the pursuit of recognisable patterns is a universal given of the human psyche.
Holger E. Karst