Kunsthalle Düsseldorf

Michael Kunze

06 Apr - 30 Jun 2013

MICHAEL KUNZE
Halcyon Days
6 April – 30 June 2013

The pain­tings by Micha­el Kun­ze (born in 1961 in Mu­nich) are fil­led wi­th re­flec­tions on li­te­ra­tu­re and phi­lo­so­phy, and on the his­to­ry of art and ar­chi­tec­tu­re. He trans­la­tes the­se re­flec­tions in­to enig­ma­tic,

see­mingly ir­ra­tio­nal sce­ne­ries, ar­chi­tec­tu­ral con­struc­tions and uto­pi­an land­scapes. The ex­hi­bi­ti­on will pre­sent pain­tings from the last 20 ye­ars of his work, which can be read as an end­less com­men­ta­ry on Ar­nold Böck­lin’s “Is­le of the Dead”. Kun­ze en­dea­vours to ma­ke con­nec­tions that ha­ve al­most be­en for­got­ten to­day. The “hal­cyon days” are a re­cur­ring mo­tif in his work.
Fried­rich Nietz­sche, who was pla­gued by head­a­ches, used this me­ta­phor to de­scri­be the ti­mes when his health im­pro­ved. Ti­me and again, Micha­el Kun­ze paints ar­chi­tec­tu­ral com­po­si­ti­ons un­der a clou­dy sky and stee­ped in dra­ma­tic Me­di­ter­ra­ne­an light. Mul­ti­laye­red con­trasts of form and con­tent do­mi­na­te his work, in which frag­ments of mo­dern and pre-mo­dern ar­chi­tec­tu­re col­li­de.

The ex­hi­bi­ti­on and ca­ta­lo­gue are being pro­du­ced in co­ope­ra­ti­on wi­th the Neue Na­tio­nal­ga­le­rie Ber­lin.
 

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