) |
Joachim Bandau |
On Wednesday, the 22nd of April 2009 from 7 to 9 p.m., the Baukunst Galerie opens a remarkable solo-exhibition with current sculptures and watercolour paintings of Joachim Bandau. It is already the second exhibition of the artist in the gallery. While in 2005 black watercolour paintings and sculptures of lead and steel were exhibited, in this exhibition two new groups of works will be presented. At the one hand “Bagan-Lacquer“ objects will be shown – wooden works on walls covered with Burmese tree gum. On the other hand current black watercolour paintings are confronted with delicate “Irrawaddy“ watercolour paintings, which are inspired by the landscape at the homonymous river in Myanmar.
Joachim Bandau was born in 1936 in Cologne. After his studies at the State Academy of Art in Dusseldorf from 1957 to 1960 he started to develop his first 3-dimensional works. His multifarious œuvre meanwhile comprises about fifty years of creation and is characterised by various, self contained groups of works. After the futuristic artificial organic polyester sculptures from the 60s and 70s in 1978 there was a turn towards straight-line, geometric sculptures of steel and lead, which became more and more minimalist archetypes of architectonic indoors and outdoors. All his sculptures establish a direct connection to their surrounding space – this is equally essential for the fully plastic sculptures and the mural sculptures. In 2005 the cubic leaden “Bonsai” objects were directly mounted on the wall, by contrast the new laminar “Bagan-Lacquer” objects are rather hanging in front of than on the wall. Their core of balsa and air-ply wood is covered multiple times with the gum of the tree Melanorrhea Usitata, which has been used for lacquering in Burma for more than 1000 years. The opaque black colour is a result from the natural oxidation process and raises the impression of compact, heavy objects. Just on closer inspection the filigree steel spikes, fixing the works on the wall, reveal the lightness and fragility of the objects. Their spatial volume results from the subtle concave or convex curvatures and elaborate superposition of the several faces. This plasticity is also due to the special character of the high gloss surface. The mirroring of the environment and the spectator as well as the absorption and reflection of the light oscillates the objects and turns them into a dynamic liquid (”Black Fluid“), which encroaches upon the room and opens up new spaces.
In the field of the 2-dimensional watercolour painting Joachim Bandau also started to develop volume and spatiality from the flat. The current black watercolour paintings are based on a polyphone structure. The multifaceted layering of transparent, homogenate areas evolves delicate veils with capillary, razor sharp lines in the form of concentrations of pigments at the verges by an alternate process of painting and drying. Their interaction with light and shadow opens up complex spatial constructions. Moreover the twenty to forty layers also document the different sequences of the working process and thereby include the chronological dimension in the work. The spectator has to retrograde to get an access to the formation of the image. Just in the course of time he is able to understand the interaction of the different layers. Furthermore the spacious dimension of the black watercolour paintings alters with the point of view and the approach of the spectator.
In his new “Irrawaddy” watercolour paintings – as well as in the “Bagan Lacquers” – Joachim Bandau also detaches himself from the solidity and clearness of classified shapes. He does not vary a square as a constant basic module anymore but paints variable, level bands and lines in delicate grey and black shades which are reminiscent of blurred silhouettes. As he brings all elements into a horizontal line and partially mirrors them below it, he evokes connotations of a river landscape referring to the source of his inspiration in the titles.
The broad spectrum of variations in the œuvre of Joachim Bandau attests to his great readiness to assume a risk while searching for new ways of expressions in order to push his opus with high originality and intellectual liberty. Each group of his works stands out due to his distinct sense of using clear and reduced forms without loosing subject matter. His artworks convince by their dialectic composition of body and space, playful innovation and order, heaviness and airiness, opacity and transparency, vitality and contemplative silence.
MORE EXHIBITIONS
