René Luckhardt
21 Jan - 26 Feb 2011
RENÉ LUCKHARDT
Aphanysium
21 January - .26 February, 2011
“What Michelangelo’s Eve would have in her mouth if she wasn’t plucking the apple”
Interview: Dr. A.C. Uhl
Dr. A.C. Uhl: Despite the fact that your new pictures have been painted in a completely different way, the artist René Luckhardt is more evident than ever before.
René Luckhardt: I didn’t want to present individual pictures, but rather an exhibition with a consistent design throughout. Moreover, I wanted to create a particular hue, a certain light that I’ve envisioned for as long as I can remember. I felt that I wouldn’t be able to achieve that with oil or acrylic paints, and lacquer has both the sheen of oil paints and the drying properties of acrylic, and it’s water-based to boot, so it’s really quick to work with. What more could you want?
U: The next thing that strikes me is the sensual confusion of figures from ancient mythology, manga comics and components of religious Egyptian or Indian paintings.
L: Why “confusion”? This is a coming together of traits of western and oriental culture, so, naturally, mythological creatures, such as satyrs, Anubis and Pegasus, can also crop up. Firstly, it has never as yet been established whether such phenomena are indeed genetically possible and, at some point, might gain universal acceptance. And secondly, the significance or character of mythological figures are dependent on the time or historical developments and their setting. In this case I have programmed them in such a way as to make them open for the future, and this is the result.
U: What is the meaning of Aphanysium?
L: Aphanysium is basically a counterpart to Kellerloch, yet originating from it at the same time. As Nietzsche commented on Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground, Kellerloch is a spiritual space on the periphery - a state that you have to go through – like Lewis Carroll’s Alice in the rabbit hole – in order to reach Wonderland, to come into bloom again, to release new energies.
U: Your exhibition space in Berlin, Wonderloch Kellerland, is made up of Kellerloch (“Underground”) and Wonderland. There you have also exhibited replicas of marginalised historical rooms in which wall paintings perform an important function. Those projects oscillate between documentation, exhibition space and experiential space. And that is also how I perceive this exhibition – as an experiential space.
L: Yes, that’s right, that’s exactly how I see it too.
U: Aphanysium is also a word amalgam combining aphanisis and Elysium. The former denotes the disappearance of sexuality; in philosophy it also refers to the disappearance of the subject. The latter is a Greek mythological place of eternal bliss to which heroes could pass without dying.
L: That’s right. I extracted a space and found a term to describe that space. But I’m not using it in a negative sense. Rather I see here the opportunity for transformation. To my mind it is a paradisiacal dissolution of fears, prejudices and categorisations that long need to be overcome. They are presented here in a new light. In this terrain there are no limits, no good, no evil, and I specifically created a form of painting that can allow for an infinite continuation, an infinite number of modulations on the theme.
U: That sounds reminiscent of de Sade.
L: Yes, absolutely. De Sade is the Grand Master of libidinal mechanics. But he is not as superficial, as graphic as I am. I find both the visual ideas and the stylised poses in the old illustrations inspiring. Even then they dealt with something out of the ordinary, something that alludes to Aphanysium. It just isn’t obvious there, partly due to the fact that today we look at it from a nostalgic angle.
U: It appears to me that your figures, in contrast to de Sade, possess a peculiar expression. Their nature is, you might say, of an innocent perversity.
L: The classification sex disappears because sex, in this case, is absolute. Therefore, in the aphanisic state, it is no longer perceived as a classification you have to somehow relate to. It can therefore be neither mechanically nor morally condemnable. It cannot be comprehended at all – like God.
U: Are you dealing with your own aphanisis here?
L: (laughs) As I said, Aphanysium is a state that has transcended a world that knows racism, homophobia and other prejudices. My personal sexual preferences on this planet are not decisive for art. This is really a spiritual issue that has manifested itself here, which, in addition, enables terrestrials, with all their different partialities and preferences, to approach the exhibition from a wider variety of angles. At least, that’s what I hope.
U: The source materials for your pictures are printed graphics from the 17th and 18th centuries, but which trace back to artwork and drawings which are older still. Drafts for, and illustrations of, Pietro Aretino’s erotic sonnets, drawings of Madame de Pompadour and de Sade editions were used to some extent.
L: Yes. They were in circulation back then and still are today on the net. It would appear that they are quite sought-after but not really mainstream – that’s something I like. What is more-or-less nostalgic today, was probably mythologically, satirically or lyrically legitimised pornography back then. What I also found interesting was being able to draw on depictions created by female pornographers.
U: What interests you about pornography?
L: The fact that we cannot escape from it, that at times it turns us on, and at others it repulses us. It’s an important subject. There are many people for whom sexuality – including that which the majority of people consider offensive or pornographic – is the fundament of all existence. There are people who, for example, are able to interpret the tzimtzum as a divine orgasm. Sex magic is based on the principle that all occurrences are sexual acts and can, in turn, be influenced by certain sex practices. A kind of metaphorical experience of the world – certainly not dissimilar to the poetic or artistic experience.
U: So do you see yourself as an advocate for unrestrained sexuality or sexual liberty?
L: Is that at all necessary? I would say that I, as a person, am not the important factor. I was able to paint these pictures, to unfurl and reveal sexuality as a way of life, as a kind of artificial naturalness. However, I think that behind your question there lies a different problem, an age-old problem. Perhaps I can explain what I’m trying to say by using the example of a great role model: Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel can be classified as Christian artwork with the result that it is universally perceived as such. We shouldn’t however forget that his paintings combine Christian iconography with Greek – i.e. pagan – mythology, or that they portray God as a human figure. And, above all, certain details shouldn’t be overlooked, such as what Michelangelo’s Eve would have in her mouth if she wasn’t plucking the apple.
Aphanysium
21 January - .26 February, 2011
“What Michelangelo’s Eve would have in her mouth if she wasn’t plucking the apple”
Interview: Dr. A.C. Uhl
Dr. A.C. Uhl: Despite the fact that your new pictures have been painted in a completely different way, the artist René Luckhardt is more evident than ever before.
René Luckhardt: I didn’t want to present individual pictures, but rather an exhibition with a consistent design throughout. Moreover, I wanted to create a particular hue, a certain light that I’ve envisioned for as long as I can remember. I felt that I wouldn’t be able to achieve that with oil or acrylic paints, and lacquer has both the sheen of oil paints and the drying properties of acrylic, and it’s water-based to boot, so it’s really quick to work with. What more could you want?
U: The next thing that strikes me is the sensual confusion of figures from ancient mythology, manga comics and components of religious Egyptian or Indian paintings.
L: Why “confusion”? This is a coming together of traits of western and oriental culture, so, naturally, mythological creatures, such as satyrs, Anubis and Pegasus, can also crop up. Firstly, it has never as yet been established whether such phenomena are indeed genetically possible and, at some point, might gain universal acceptance. And secondly, the significance or character of mythological figures are dependent on the time or historical developments and their setting. In this case I have programmed them in such a way as to make them open for the future, and this is the result.
U: What is the meaning of Aphanysium?
L: Aphanysium is basically a counterpart to Kellerloch, yet originating from it at the same time. As Nietzsche commented on Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground, Kellerloch is a spiritual space on the periphery - a state that you have to go through – like Lewis Carroll’s Alice in the rabbit hole – in order to reach Wonderland, to come into bloom again, to release new energies.
U: Your exhibition space in Berlin, Wonderloch Kellerland, is made up of Kellerloch (“Underground”) and Wonderland. There you have also exhibited replicas of marginalised historical rooms in which wall paintings perform an important function. Those projects oscillate between documentation, exhibition space and experiential space. And that is also how I perceive this exhibition – as an experiential space.
L: Yes, that’s right, that’s exactly how I see it too.
U: Aphanysium is also a word amalgam combining aphanisis and Elysium. The former denotes the disappearance of sexuality; in philosophy it also refers to the disappearance of the subject. The latter is a Greek mythological place of eternal bliss to which heroes could pass without dying.
L: That’s right. I extracted a space and found a term to describe that space. But I’m not using it in a negative sense. Rather I see here the opportunity for transformation. To my mind it is a paradisiacal dissolution of fears, prejudices and categorisations that long need to be overcome. They are presented here in a new light. In this terrain there are no limits, no good, no evil, and I specifically created a form of painting that can allow for an infinite continuation, an infinite number of modulations on the theme.
U: That sounds reminiscent of de Sade.
L: Yes, absolutely. De Sade is the Grand Master of libidinal mechanics. But he is not as superficial, as graphic as I am. I find both the visual ideas and the stylised poses in the old illustrations inspiring. Even then they dealt with something out of the ordinary, something that alludes to Aphanysium. It just isn’t obvious there, partly due to the fact that today we look at it from a nostalgic angle.
U: It appears to me that your figures, in contrast to de Sade, possess a peculiar expression. Their nature is, you might say, of an innocent perversity.
L: The classification sex disappears because sex, in this case, is absolute. Therefore, in the aphanisic state, it is no longer perceived as a classification you have to somehow relate to. It can therefore be neither mechanically nor morally condemnable. It cannot be comprehended at all – like God.
U: Are you dealing with your own aphanisis here?
L: (laughs) As I said, Aphanysium is a state that has transcended a world that knows racism, homophobia and other prejudices. My personal sexual preferences on this planet are not decisive for art. This is really a spiritual issue that has manifested itself here, which, in addition, enables terrestrials, with all their different partialities and preferences, to approach the exhibition from a wider variety of angles. At least, that’s what I hope.
U: The source materials for your pictures are printed graphics from the 17th and 18th centuries, but which trace back to artwork and drawings which are older still. Drafts for, and illustrations of, Pietro Aretino’s erotic sonnets, drawings of Madame de Pompadour and de Sade editions were used to some extent.
L: Yes. They were in circulation back then and still are today on the net. It would appear that they are quite sought-after but not really mainstream – that’s something I like. What is more-or-less nostalgic today, was probably mythologically, satirically or lyrically legitimised pornography back then. What I also found interesting was being able to draw on depictions created by female pornographers.
U: What interests you about pornography?
L: The fact that we cannot escape from it, that at times it turns us on, and at others it repulses us. It’s an important subject. There are many people for whom sexuality – including that which the majority of people consider offensive or pornographic – is the fundament of all existence. There are people who, for example, are able to interpret the tzimtzum as a divine orgasm. Sex magic is based on the principle that all occurrences are sexual acts and can, in turn, be influenced by certain sex practices. A kind of metaphorical experience of the world – certainly not dissimilar to the poetic or artistic experience.
U: So do you see yourself as an advocate for unrestrained sexuality or sexual liberty?
L: Is that at all necessary? I would say that I, as a person, am not the important factor. I was able to paint these pictures, to unfurl and reveal sexuality as a way of life, as a kind of artificial naturalness. However, I think that behind your question there lies a different problem, an age-old problem. Perhaps I can explain what I’m trying to say by using the example of a great role model: Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel can be classified as Christian artwork with the result that it is universally perceived as such. We shouldn’t however forget that his paintings combine Christian iconography with Greek – i.e. pagan – mythology, or that they portray God as a human figure. And, above all, certain details shouldn’t be overlooked, such as what Michelangelo’s Eve would have in her mouth if she wasn’t plucking the apple.