Under the motto SILENT DIALOGUES, 13 artists from all over Europe will present two of their works each in the GRACE DENKER GALLERY from August 26, 2022, giving an insight into their work and arousing curiosity for more. The different approaches, ideas and concepts create a special, inspiring experience.
Get to know the exhibitors better in the following article and gain insight into their artistic work and artistic concepts. The exhibitors answer us about what art means to them, what their artistic process looks like, how they came to art, what defines their art, how they start and what materials they use. They also explain the impact their art can have on the world.
The following artists were interviewed: Björn Wiedemann, Dr. Draga Kuzmanovic, Helga Casagrande, Inga Berkensträter, Mandie Knoesen, Manuel Martin, Manuela Eibensteiner, Mohammad Aryankhah, Norica Giru, Hierkuenstlernameneinfuegen, Sophie Zlotowski, TZPhotoArt, Andrea Christiane Spring.
Register for the vernissage at: https://www.artcraftliving.com
Bjorn Wiedemann
If I start with a new and empty canvas, I often first apply a black, grey or coloured first layer, as a foundation, so to speak. The choice of colour depends a little on the direction in which the future work is to go. Most of my works are designed on the basis of order and chance. As an artist, I create order, for example, by choosing the size of the canvas and the choice of colours. The technique and tools used also influence the order. Chance is an important factor. How the colours work together, how colour mixtures or colour breaks arise in connection with the technique and tools - that is chance, which has a strong influence on the end result. Chance fascinates me. I never know in advance exactly what the work will look like in the end. I can steer it in certain directions, but chance plays a large part in the creation of the works. Chance always creates surprises. That fascinates me, captivates me and makes working with the colours and the canvas fun.
In addition, the works in the field of abstraction are so interesting for me because abstraction and the recognition of motifs depend heavily on the experiences, ideas, projections and reflections that the viewer brings with him or herself. Similar to looking at the clouds in the sky.
I am particularly "at home" in abstraction. The colors on the canvas do not form an exact representation. I prefer to leave that to figurative painting. The image recognized in an abstract work is formed by the viewer's imagination. Therefore, everyone can recognize something different in abstraction. This depends greatly on the experiences, ideas and reflections that the viewer brings with him.
I would have to go into great detail there. I will try to summarise it very briefly. I had a creative streak from a very early age. But then other things came to the fore. Military service, later professional life... For many years, art took a back seat. I took a roughly 30-year artistic break. But then a deep life crisis brought me down. In the end, it was art, among other things, that helped me get back on my feet. So I found joy again and gained experience through self-study. I still try out a lot of things today. This is reflected in changes in style, different colour schemes and different techniques. I create my works with acrylic paints. Sometimes on cardboard, but mostly I use canvas stretched on a stretcher frame.
Dr Draga Kuzmanovic
Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by painting, especially the colors have a magical effect on me.
When I start painting, it's like a ritual: I let my mind wander, come into the void and get to work. This moment decides what goes on the canvas. Emotions play a big role in what motif and which colors are applied. You enter something unknown, a no man's land, you create, destroy and move on tirelessly until the moment when the picture starts to dictate the direction - only then do you know that you are in harmony with your work.
Whether with acrylic or oil paints, pastel watercolors or gouache paints, each color has its own special charm. People and nature are my subjects. I try to express myself not only through the subject but also through the colors; both should create a mood and emotion. I like to paint faces; their expression allows me to look into their soul. For me, every person has an inner beauty, even if they are described as ugly on the outside. My saying is: "He is so ugly that he is too beautiful, you just have to look."
Through my pictures I want to tell people that people are beautiful. It would be desirable for people to live without prejudices/judgments.
Every person has their own beauty, even if they are "ugly". If you look at people from the side, you will be able to treat each other with more dignity.
Helga Casagrande
My name is Helga Casagrande and I was born in a suburb of Hamburg. A few years ago, a serious illness stopped me. My desire to survive made way for a new direction in my life. It was important to think positively and do something that stimulates all the senses by satisfying them with joy.
By chance I heard about a painting course given by a former student, Lothar Schulz-Goldap, of the famous German painter Fritz Mackensen, co-founder of the Worpswede artists' colony, and spontaneously decided to take a trial lesson.
The smell of oil paint, mixing the individual colors, thinking up new motifs, sketching on the canvas... I knew immediately that this was the right direction, the beginning of something new. So I learned landscape painting for two years. After my teacher died, I took a few lessons in Lars Möller's studio, where I learned to paint "water". I felt a new enthusiasm for bringing the colors of the sea, the sound of the mighty waves and the smell of the wind and seaweed onto the canvas. During this time I created a considerable number of pictures in all shades of blue and green. As for portraits, I taught myself how to get better over time, starting with my closest relatives, stars and now also commissioned painting. Portrait painting - in addition to physical resemblance, this also means capturing the essence and personality of the person depicted. A face is always a piece of life story - depicting more than one - that is the challenge of a good portrait.
At the moment I mainly do portraits, followed by vintage cars and motorcycles. Usually the original is a black and white shot, which allows me to let my imagination run wild, choose the colors as I feel them and express the essence of the subject.
The viewer should feel part of the scene, almost immersed in the canvas and fall in love with the precise details such as shiny colors, flashing chrome, shimmering hair, sparkling eyes and much more. My favorite is the finger painting technique, where the colors blend into one another, the shadows become softer and special highlights are highlighted.
Inga Berkensträter
My art shows what is hidden inside. Feelings and states of mind find their expression in my pictures. It is the observation of a moment. A mood. A fleeting moment, captured in the gaze of the being on the canvas. These figures and beings symbolize stopping and perceiving in times of increasing hecticness and haste.
It excites me to give moods and emotions a face, to make them VISIBLE.
My work "Ophelia" shows deep relaxation and release. Strong feelings that create a powerful experience inside. The picture is intended to replace words to describe and share the power of this moment. Otherwise the moment passes and remains the feeling of an individual. My pictures share these powerful inner experiences.
The viewer observes the being that is experiencing this moment.
“Ophelia” is redeemed.
Art is a deep inner need and my way of expressing myself. A white wall, a canvas or a sheet of paper are the beginning of a journey. It is an invitation to make something visible that I cannot describe with words.
When I paint, I don’t follow any rules or laws; the picture is created intuitively.
I like to use a variety of different materials and colors. I use acrylic paints, oil and wax pastels, supplemented with paper scraps and glitter most often.
The picture should have everything it needs. A rich offering without restrictions, that is, for me, the freedom of art.
I want to dance and romp on the canvas, the painting process is a wild celebration, and at the end a creature becomes visible.
Everything can become visible, even the feelings that are unwelcome and difficult to endure. Dealing with and encountering emotional states. Pausing and enduring. That is the message of my art.
Mandie Knoesen
For me art is the creative ability of an individual to express their thoughts, emotions, desires and understanding of certain aspects of life, like love, conflict, fear and pain. No matter what medium I am using, it always begins with a pencil sketch. I first have to get the proportions and orientations correct. To me the most exciting time of my painting process is the beginning and the end.
As a new artist I am still discovering and searching for my unique style and artistic voice. I am constantly trying a variety of different subjects, mediums and styles. These two figurative portraits were inspired during the COVID lockdown. People turn to art for emotional connection and in the two years of isolation, people want to see people and experience emotions.
I try to find color palettes and themes that resonate with the feelings and emotions of my viewers. I try to capture the everyday life of people in its most expressionistic form.
I grew up in a very creative and artistic family on a farm in South Africa. As a child I loved spending my time drawing, painting and doing various crafts. Adult life did not present me enough time to do any kind of up to our move to Germany. Here I had the time to submerse myself in experimenting and learning and practicing it daily.
On these two paintings I used oils on canvas. In all honesty it really depends on my mood. I like oils, acrylics and ink. I have also started making papier-mâché boards that I paint or draw on. It creates a very interesting textured surface and the resin finish gives the painting its own individual personality.
Since I am still new at this I am still experimenting with various palettes and subjects. So I do not yet have a preferred color palette. I try to determine the emotional and psychological impact my painting should evoke in the viewer and then pick my colors that reflect those feelings well.
My goal is to inspire those who see my paintings to observe the world around them carefully, to slow down and reconnect with nature and to find beauty in simple, unusual places.
Manuel Martin
My name is Manuel Martin. I was born on July 11, 1987 in Bad Neustadt. As a young boy, my grandfather taught me that colors can bring life. I then completed an apprenticeship in my parents' painting business and then worked as a craftsman.
After my mother died of cancer in 2005, my parents' company filed for bankruptcy. I was even homeless for a short time. Luckily, I met my wife and got back on my feet.
In March 2022, I suffered a mental breakdown. This was followed by 10 weeks of inpatient psychotherapy and I was diagnosed with depression with anxiety disorders. The art therapy there triggered a lot in me. This is how I discovered my passion for painting. For me, painting is not just painting, it is therapy. While I was still in the clinic, my wife gave me a paint box with oil paint.
In my room in the psychiatric ward I had a balcony with a table and two chairs. After I finally overcame my fear and wanted to start painting, I got the newspaper and bandage tape, taped off my table and started painting with oil paints. I brought my inner self onto the canvas. My fellow patients were enthusiastic about my work. Everyone saw something that put a smile on their face. This allowed me to finally see the meaning in my life. With my work I want to remind people to let color, love and spontaneity into their lives. Life is not made up of externals. There are still worlds to discover beneath what is primarily visible.
Manuela Eibensteiner
With my paintings I want to move people, inspire them and also consciously draw attention to things and values. I then translate many thoughts into pictures, some of which arise completely spontaneously, with my own technique and my own expressiveness, and the colors and shapes chosen arise completely spontaneously or intentionally.
We all have a lot of feelings and a lot of heart and soul in us. With art I have developed a way of letting my feelings out, of allowing them to show something... with different materials, with water of creation from the Cella Bründl, a holy spring, original, real... often reduced to just one color, with stones, with paintbrushes, with a paintbrush... pulsating... slow, gentle... then again with all the colors of the spectrum. With a lot of trust in God - primal trust in what is found and created.
Each work is created in a particular color, powerful or simple, large-format or minimalist, the viewer should find himself in it...abstract, representational, I lose myself in the different colors and shapes and their expressiveness.
I started with the old craft technique, many layers of glaze on glass, the old craft of reverse glass painting and on textiles and metal.
My training was in arts and crafts and a constant process of searching in painting, sculpture techniques and fine art began...I actually paint on anything that can be painted, canvas, textiles, leather, glass, wood, metal...it's a great feeling of freedom not to be put into a category, I paint what I feel in the moment and what I want to convey to the viewer, so my approach is very intense. With a lot of passion!
According to my current feelings and what I want to communicate to the world.
With my art to inspire people, to delight them, to move them, to make them think...sometimes to shock them, to reduce them...
As artists, we can send positive energy out into the world and contribute a lot to the state of mind.
Art is life!
My ART! THINK PINK!
Mohammad Aryankhah
I first think about a theme, then make a sketch and finally put it on the canvas. The theme and various characters from childhood series bring back childhood memories. I paint because I saw my future in art and acted out of passion.
I mainly work with oil paint, brushes and sketch paper. All of them play an important role in my work. Without the material it would not be possible. With my work I want to evoke nostalgic childhood memories in the viewer.
Norica Giru
For me, art means emotion, freedom, joy. When I start a work, I feel fully. I paint because it is the form through which I can express what I feel. In general, I paint flowers, I prefer living flowers, because I see them as people, happy, sad, different.
My works are part of my being, it's a way of expressing myself.
I started painting when a friend told me to bring her a gift that would surprise her: then I painted for the first time.
I paint on Arche paper, because it has a high density, it resists water well. The materials must be of high quality, with direct influence on the final appearance and preservation over time.
I paint with Daler Rowney colors, I like to create my own colors, in different combinations. My paintings sound full of color, just like life itself.
My paintings offer a moment of reflection, of joy. I am sure that they make the world a better place.
Insert artist name here
I only discovered art a few years ago. How it came about is a very personal story that I don't want to reveal at this point (yet). I have found my way of expressing myself in all facets of myself without using words in art. Many of my works are created by combining an idea in my head and the emotionally guided craft processes. I like to use everyday materials for this. These can sometimes leave a visible structure on the canvas after the drying process has finished. My color palette is not limited, as I am just as open to new color choices as I am to new painting techniques and the materials used. Sometimes things develop completely differently during the design process, then I may look at the work with different eyes, live out the change and ultimately the initial idea is still there, but implemented completely differently than initially planned. My intention behind it may not be discovered by the viewer. But that is exactly what I love about abstract art and why I actually avoid describing my works: everyone has the opportunity to find their own thoughts and feelings in one of my pictures and is not frustrated by not having an understanding of art. If I give a title and a description, this may be met with a lack of understanding, because another person's perception is logically very different to mine. My aim is not to exclude anyone from art. To teach people to become more aware of themselves and the things around them. To enjoy it when one of my works triggers a thought or a feeling that they would like to follow or with which they can work through something. Art is a wonderfully diverse way of dealing with life itself and one's own existence in both positive and negative ways. Both are present in our lives and each should receive dignified, respectful attention in its own time. Art creates this and thereby makes the world a little better than we often think it is.
My pouring entitled "Confusion" was created this year and alludes to the confusion we sometimes feel in life. Be it due to the rapidly changing circumstances in the world in general, or the personal confusion that an event that has occurred has brought with it. It is therefore in the colors of the globe. Above the middle of the work there is a kind of eye, from which the confusion seems to begin. If you follow the confusion, you can see the much darker ways out of the dilemma, as if you could leave the world for a moment to sort yourself out and re-enter it untangled. The sections of land in gold make it so clear that a return to earth is simply unavoidable because of its beauty, regardless of whether it could actually be untangled or not. Simple but clear conclusion: The work expresses how beautiful the world is despite all the confusion!
"The present is expected" is also a pouring that was created this year. On the left is the past. The present had already tried to gain a foothold in purple, but it was only able to spread moderately and only in one direction. On the right you can see how it is already having a major influence on the future, moving in several directions. The present itself has a unique feel in my work and also combines the colors of the past and the future. The title and the theme are based on conversations with people who are waiting for their present to finally happen. It seemed to me as if they didn't notice that it was already there, that it was there in the past and that it was already looking into the future. This work is intended to be an incentive to become aware of the present. Not to wait for something to happen at some point. To take matters into your own hands and let the present spread into the future.
Sophie Zlotowski
Creativity was something I was born with. Not always to the delight of my parents.
Later, I expressed my creativity by studying architecture.
After many years of a sometimes monotonous office life, I am now very fortunate to be able to live out my creative side both professionally and privately.
For a long time I was looking for the right balance between work and private life.
Through a chance encounter and a fortunate circumstance, an ArtNight was followed by a workshop and now art has become a large part of my life.
Rakeling gives me what I've been looking for - the perfect balance and an outlet for the experiences, feelings and thoughts of my everyday life.
For years now I have been creating modern art in acrylic on canvas.
It all started with simple squeegeeing and only a few colors.
Step by step I combined colors and integrated new techniques.
Often it went wrong and very often it fascinated me.
My pictures are never really planned, they come from the gut.
In my head there is a little idea, a color combination or just an emotion that needs to come out.
The rest runs as it should.
I am fascinated by how the different layers of color create a very special image depth, luminosity and brilliance.
For me, this gives my pictures life and energy that makes them unique.
I found my passion in abstract painting.
I am a crisp 42 years old and have set up a small studio in my beautiful attic apartment on the outskirts of Hamburg.
I enjoy being in nature and love soaking up the last rays of sunshine on the Elbe in the evening.
I spend way too much money on new colors and enjoy trying out new techniques.
My heart opens when I can make loved ones happy with my art.
My wish:
You will immerse yourself in the depth of my pictures and can forget your everyday life with just one look.
All my pictures contain parts of my life, my story and can also become part of your story, emotions and feelings.
Let yourself go, lose yourself in your thoughts, your imagination.
Enjoy my art and find joy in everything you see.
TZPhotoArt
In my photo series "Tree fiction", my artistic approach is to bring together different perspectives of tree, deadwood and forest views on superimposed levels. In 3D optics with a photo filter, an illusion of the forest is created, with my photo series motto: tree views, from reality into a new dimension. Strong, vulnerable, injured and overwhelming. Nature so powerful.
Andrea Christiane Spring
My heart beats for art: it is the magic of light and bright colors, the energy of the creative process, the miracle of our universal creativity.
Since 2019, I have been living and working as a freelance artist and lecturer in the well-known artist town of Worpswede, where I run my studio Meermaid Art. For me, leading a creative life means motivating and supporting other people artistically. In this way, I want to contribute to a fulfilled, balanced life.
The exhibits from my Shades of Blue series exhibited in Hamburg are part of a small Ukraine group that I began in spring 2022 with the start of the military conflict that affects us all. Light and shadow. Farewell and new beginnings. Destruction and reconstruction. Birth, growth, maturity and death. With my art, I question our performance-oriented society, which, in the pursuit of ever more success, superficial happiness and self-optimization, loses sight of the essential - the human being.
All works in my surrealist-expressive blue tones series are painted in the alla prima technique with delicate glazes and opaque layers of acrylic on canvas. I only use three colors for this: Prussian blue, VanDyck brown and titanium white. I first coat all canvases with a dirty acrylic pour as a base coat. This allows me to add additional colors and structures before painting over the actual motif. Some of these are still visible and tangible.
In terms of painting, I remain true to my expressive approach of bringing the unconsciously perceived, i.e. emotions and imaginations, to the surface unfiltered. Inviting the uncontrollable, the spontaneous into the painting process and acting with an open mind. The physical, mental and spiritual energies released in the process are bundled together as a message on the canvas. The individual interpretation of this message by the viewer remains infinitely subjective.
For me, that is the absolute freedom of art. A holistic understanding of painting with its infinite creative potential on all three levels: artist - work of art - viewer.
Duration of the exhibition: 26.08.2022 to 06.10.2022
Location: GRACE DENKER GALLERY, Hammerbrookstraße 93, 20097 Hamburg.
Opening: August 26, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.