
CLAUDIA LARISSA ARTZ (GERMANY), CHRISTIANE GERDA SCHMIDT (GERMANY), EGON DIGON (ITALY)
VENUE: HOUSE17, LUXEMBOURG
Throughout time, art has broadly fallen into two main styles: abstract and realistic. Under each stylistic umbrella are many variations in approach and ideology. Artists constantly push the boundaries of artistic expression in the search of the new; however the influence of these two opposing positions is undeniable.
Taking shape presents abstract and realistic works by three European artists, Egon Digon, Claudia Larissa Artz and Christiane Gerda Schmidt, all of whom investigate aspects of the human experience through using either abstract or realistic approaches; or in the case of Digon, a blend of the two. Through their different methods, we see their ideas taking shape in pencil, paint and wood.
Art is essentially about communication between an artist and the viewer. When we look at a piece, our reaction to what we see may shape our emotional state and thoughts. It is at this moment that a dialogue between the piece/artist and the viewer is established. The length and depth of that conversation will depend largely on how well the viewer speaks the visual language of the artist, and how willing the viewer is to ask pertinent questions of the art in order to know more about the artist’s intent.
This can sound like an impossible task for the uninitiated, but in fact it is not. Just like a spoken language, the language of art can be learned. And like spoken languages, the historical roots of the contemporary language can be traced through time.
If we consider the evolution of visual communication, one could be forgiven for thinking that realistic or naturalistic depictions of the environment preceded abstract forms. However, humankind has been using abstraction for millennia. Consider the symbolic marks of the Australian Aborigines that date back 50,000 years. Or the highly stylised human and animal figures and abstract symbols in the Lascaux caves that have no other visual elements to link them to an external reality. Or ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. These abstract forms and marks predated writing and were important for recording and passing on information. In more recent periods, abstraction has evolved to represent ideas of purity, order, spirituality and simplicity. Abstraction is often held to be morally superior as it does not try to emulate the real world. In the past century it has had a heavy focus on geometry, shape, colour and texture. Cubism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Constructivism, Surrealism, Minimalism, Conceptualism and Colour-field painting, and Action painting are all forms of abstract art.
Realistic approaches to art started to appear in Europe in ancient Greece where people and their life were portrayed in paintings and sculpture. Innovations in artist materials like oil paint as well as the development of techniques such as perspective and chiaroscuro, gave artists much greater flexibility and scope. The evolution of realistic techniques became increasingly sophisticated and highly regarded in Europe. It was used by churches and kings to commission monumental religious and history paintings and portraits of important people. By the 19th century the Realism movement had arisen as a reaction against the sentimentalism of the Romanticism, which itself used realistic techniques to portray ideas relating to the human spirit, nature and subjectivity; these paintings were not reflections of reality, but an expression of emotional states and ideas. The emphasis of Realism was on the faithful depiction of ordinary life and people. Impressionism, Naturalism, Social Realism, Photorealism and Hyperrealism all find their roots in Realism.
To assert that one approach is superior to the other is, however, short-sighted. Through the history of art, each approach has influenced the other, often giving birth to a new direction. Would the abstract works of colour theorist Joseph Albers have been possible without Claude Monet’s initial investigations into light and colour?
In this exhibition Taking shape, we can begin to explore some of the influences of abstract and realistic approaches within the Western visual language. Claudia Larissa Artz (Germany) has chosen to work with a minimalist geometry and pattern mutations in her quest to resolve the eternal artist dilemma of line versus shape and space versus time. Egon Digon (Italy) uses naturalistic plant motives carved in gilded wood intertwined through discarded once-functional rusted objects, as well as distorted carved grids, to represent our interaction with our environment and the desire to break free from social constraints. Christiane Gerda Schmidt’s (Germany) photorealistic approach meticulously and faithfully documents her and society’s relationship with nature.
As we take the time to ‘listen’ to and learn the language of each artist’s work, it becomes apparent that their particular approach is necessary to eloquently and fully express their ideas. To do so in words or with a photograph would be to rob the artists of the nuances afforded by the rhythm of lines and angles, the traces of carving blades, or the texture of pencil scratched into paper. The styles of the artists place them within the broader context of art history, but it is the marks left by the artists that give each their unique expressive voice.
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
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