Arvid Boecker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964 (age 58–59) |
| Nationality | German |
| Known for | Concrete art, abstract art |
| Movement | Color field painting |
Arvid Boecker (born 1964) in Wuppertal) is a German painter and curator. He is a representative of concrete art and focuses on color field painting.
Arvid Boecker studied from 1987 to 1989 at the University of Trier Art history, continuing his studies at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar in Saarbrücken.[ citation needed ] There he studied until 1994 with the professors Jochen Gerz, Bodo Baumgarten, and Ulrike Rosenbach.[ citation needed ] In the following years he was Artist-in-residence in London (Acme Studios, 1994-1995), in Katwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands (1995-1996), on the Isle of Skye (2005), in La Ciotat in southern France in 2006, and in 2018 he went to Paris for a residency at Factory49. [1]
Since 1996 Boecker has been a member of the Saarländischer Künstlerbund [2] and since 2019 he is also a member of the Künstlerbund Baden-Württemberg. [3] He lives and works in Heidelberg, since 2018 he also has a studio in Frankfurt am Main. [4]
Arvid Boecker's theme as an artist is color itself. He uses oil paint, which he manufactures himself from pigments and applies to canvas. Since priming the canvases requires long drying times, Boecker always creates entire rows of canvasses with the same dimensions, on which he then alternately works. He numbers the images and adds a hash tag to them, for example: "#1103". He describes these series as "picture families". Arvid Boecker determines right at the beginning how he deals with the surface, dividing it up for certain color applications. His works are either rectangular or square. Since 2014 Boecker has concentrated on the format 20×16 inches, which he divides by a longitudinal line into two fields, which he then paints with different colors. [5] The color is applied in up to 40 layers, partly wash, partly impasto. Arvid Boecker uses squeegees to remove older layers of paint or applies new layers of paint with the painting knife. [6] This processing can take up to one year. [7]
During this long period, his pictures mature. Boecker often interrupts the work on a painting to give it time to dry. The painting of a piece for him thus becomes a process of reflection on the function of color and its effects. The artist reflects upon, how which effect is produced in the viewer, how the colors do interact with each other and to which result: "So wird der Maler manchmal zum Forscher in seinem eigenen Werk, indem er wie ein Archäologe alte Schichten und Zustände sucht und wieder zum Vorschein bringt. Er ist Schöpfer und Zerstörer in einem, lässt entstehen und löscht wieder aus, kreiert und verwirft. Aber nicht aus einer Laune heraus, sondern immer im Hinblick auf das Gelingen des Bildes als Ganzes." (in English: "Thus the painter sometimes becomes a researcher in his own work, searching for and revealing old layers and states like an archaeologist. He is creator and destroyer in one, lets arise and extinguishes again, creates and rejects. But not on a whim, but always with a view to the succeeding of the picture as a whole.") [8] The painting created in such a long working process clearly shows the traces of its creation, e.g. through shadows - darker layers of paint were painted over by light ones – or through scratches, which allow views of the older layers of paint.
Boecker also designs entire room concepts, e.g. 2012 for the Städtische Galerie Neunkirchen. For this exhibition he created 40 square works, which again were divided into smaller squares and painted with different colors. In addition, he structured the exhibition space with specially made colored tuffets and wall markings with colored adhesive tape that stretched from the wall to the floor and formed a rectangle. [9] [10] This three–dimensional installation was intended to enable the viewer to reflect on how he perceives the works of art in the room. In 2016 Boecker created a triptych for the Stiftskirche Sunnisheim in Sinsheim, consisting of three pictures of the same format, which were created especially for this room. [11]
Boecker sees himself as a "travelling observer". [12] His stays abroad, e.g. 1995 in Katwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands, 2005 on the Isle of Skye and 2006 to La Ciotat he perceives as research expeditions concerning light and colors. Katwijk has already had an international artists' colony in the 19th century. [13] La Ciotat in southern France has also always attracted artists, because of the sharply defined contrasts in the southern light conditions by the sea, and the harbor atmosphere, which fascinated the artists already at the beginning of the 20th century. The Isle of Skye is famous for its foggy coastline, which often makes the light diffuse and shimmer.
Boecker assimilates all these impulses and experiences in his works: "Was ich auf meinen Bildern male, sind Erinnerungen" (in English: "What I paint in my canvases are memories") [12] However, not memories in the sense of landscape pictures, but memories that every artist carries with him unconsciously or consciously and that influence his art. The long duration of the creation of his artworks allows Arvid Boecker a kind of meditative approach. In the months until the completion of a work he can reflect extensively on the effects of the application of paint, he can put his piece away for a while and continue to work on another, he can constantly look at and work on the canvases with squeegees and spatulas until they reflect exactly the expression he wants to achieve. Viewed from a distance, they sometimes almost look like monochrome works and only when one goes closer one recognizes the multitude of different layers that the artist realized in the work. Thus, not only does the production of his art take a lot of time, but the viewer is also required to take his time to perceive all aspects of the works: "Boeckers Werke strahlen Ruhe und Kraft aus – und auch wenn er bewusst jeden Anschein alles Bildhaften vermeidet, bieten sie dennoch eine Projektionsfläche für eine Vielzahl an Assoziationen." (in English: "Boeckers' works radiate calmness and strength – and even if he consciously avoids any appearance of anything pictorial, they nevertheless offer a projection screen for a multitude of associations." [14]
Since 2015 Arvid Boecker has a project room in Heidelberg - boeckercontemporary. Boecker's intention is to establish a "place of encounter with contemporary art" in Heidelberg. Each year, four to six exhibitions of "internationally established positions in non-objective painting" are to be organized. To this end, he collaborates with independent curators worldwide, but also curates several exhibitions himself. The goal of the project space also is to provide more networking in the region and thus to contribute to an active exhibition life. Since 2017, he also realizes exhibitions curated by him at various venues, such as the Galerie Oqbo in Berlin (2017, Better late than ugly) and the Museum St. Wendel (2019, Breathe).
Klaus Peter Brehmer, was a German painter, graphic artist and filmmaker. From 1971 to 1997 he was professor at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg.
Norbert Müller-Everling is a contemporary German artist working with concrete art.
Ivo Ringe is a German artist, who is classified as a concrete art painter. He is also a docent and a curator of international group exhibitions.
Michael Dreyer is a German artist, author, and director, who analyzes the basis of art. He creates, analyses and proves the connection between the presentation, history, attraction and forms of Art. Since 1982, Dreyer had worked as a professor at Merz Akademie in Stuttgart, Germany, where he had been teaching visual communication.
Rita Maria Walburga Grosse-Ruyken is a contemporary German artist, sculptor, multimedia installation art, artfilm and performance, producer artist and member of the Association of German Artists Deutscher Kuenstlerbund. The core of her light – sound – space – form installations comprise sculptures in motion made from pure gold and silver. She became internationally known through her exhibition Rays of Light.
Karlheinz Bux is a German artist concentrating on drawing and sculpture works.
Peter Schwickerath is a German sculptor.
Regine Schumann is a German artist who is classified as a light artist and a contemporary art painter and installation artist.
Heiner Thiel is a German sculptor and curator. He is an exponent of concrete art.
Michael Bacht is a German artist.
Joachim Schmettau is a German sculptor.
Heather Sheehan is an American artist who lives and works in Cologne, Germany. In her work, she combines elements of sculpture, installation, performance, video art and black and white photography. Her work focuses on the development and presentation of individual mythologies.
Michael Post is a German painter, Object artist and curator. He is an exponent of concrete art.
Achim Zeman is a German painter and installation artist. He is a representative of Op-Art and is based on the rules of Concrete Art.
Rita Rohlfing is a German painter, photographer and installation artist.
Wolfgang Kermer is a German art historian, artist, art educator, author, editor, curator of exhibitions, art collector and professor. From 1971 to 1984 he was repeatedly elected Rector of the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and thus the first scientific and at the same time youngest teacher in this position in the history of the university. Under his rectorate, the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart was reformed in 1975 and 1978 on the base of two new university laws of the State of Baden-Württemberg and thus, for the first time in its history, authorized to set up diplomas for all courses. One of the accents of his work was the promotion of talented graduates of the academy: In 1978 he organized the first of the so-called ″debutant exhibitions″, an ″unconventional contribution to the promotion of young people″, supported financially by the State of Baden-Württemberg.
"Like watching paint dry" is an English-language idiom describing an activity as being particularly boring or tedious. It is believed to have originated in the United States. A similar phrase is "watching the grass grow".
Andrea Neumann was a German visual artist and educator. She is one of the most important artists of the Saarland region. She is known for her abstract paintings.
Bahzad Sulaiman is a Kurdish visual artist and performance maker who worked as a lecturer at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar, in Saarbrücken, Germany. Born in Rmelan, in the northeast of Syria, Bahzad belongs to the Kurdish ethnic community. He is recipient of the 2022 Culture Prize of the Saarbrücken. His artwork was exhibited in numerous countries around the world including Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Syria, Turkey and United Kingdom.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
