Texte

Poisoned Romanticism, Fragmented Longing and the Consolation of Painting.

Dynamics determine perception of the landscape. Whether it is viewed from a car, a train or a bicycle, the perspective constantly shifts, even in the course of just one trip. Its image cannot be fully grasped, and seems in danger of dissolving among all the movement. As in film, fleeting impressions of the surroundings become merely a backdrop for potential narratives.

In contrast to this, a painted image firmly captures an impression. In a process of concentration, requiring considerable time and material, the painter fixes a moment in time, blending traditional techniques and what is recognisable with subjective perception to create an enduring depiction of a scene. For this scene to become dynamic once more, those viewing it must themselves set out on a journey— roaming with their eyes through another virtual world. It is walks such as these, exploring imagined experiential landscapes, that make painting worthwhile.

Lutz Bleidorn does not look to the heavens for his Milky Way, but brings his search down to earth, to the forest. However prosaic this may initially seem, to perceive a farm lane and tank wagon as the Milky Way is to find a moment of special significance in the humdrum of everyday life, and to discover personal dreams and poetic consolation in the vestiges of the natural world and often overly remodelled landscapes on the urban fringe. Or at the very least, to awaken the longing for such moments.

Hajo Schiff, Hamburg