GOTTHARD GRAUBNER
Malerei auf Papier
Karsten Greve
Drususgasse 1-5 - Cologne
9 November 2012 – 5 January 2013
Gotthard Graubner, with whom Gallerie Karsten Greve has been working for more than 20 years, is one of the most renowned contemporary German artists, in particular famous for his “Farbraumkörper” (color space bodies). In addition to his works on canvas and “Farbraumkörper”, Graubner has created a rich and exciting oeuvre of works on paper, including drawings and watercolours, which reveals its special and indeed unique quality in his paintings on paper. The focus of the exhibition is on the current watercolours on Nepal paper with selected retrospective works.
Colour is the central theme in Gotthard Graubner’s work. Colour stands for itself, has its own life, its own expression. In his paintings, Graubner focuses mostly on just one colour range, whose shades interact, creating tension and harmony. The paint is applied in numerous layers, which reveals its great tonal variety. The paint runs, blurs, covers, veils, and revolves. It seeps into and saturates the support, becoming one with it. Not only does Graubner use delicate vellum, which, combined with watercolour, creates an impression of floating, but also handmade absorbent papers which fuse with the brighter gouache and oil paints. Moreover, the pleasure Graubner has always taken in experimenting is evident in the cellulose layers from the 1970s, where spatial quality is also given to small formats. The handmade paper from Nepal, which Graubner started using in the 1980ies, has a very particular corporeality. The rough paper with its highly textured surface has a mind of its own and the many layers of paint superimposed on one another, alternating between cool and warm tones, create a vibrant structure. This impression is strengthened through the effect of water turning the paper into a lively relief with spatial depth and a seemingly organic surface.
Gotthard Graubner was born in 1930 in Erlbach (Vogtland). He is internationally renowned and has shown his works in numerous solo and group exhibitions at home and abroad. Graubner participated at Documenta 4 and Documenta 6, he also represented Germany at the Venice Biennale in 1982. His works can be found in important public and private collections. Gotthard Graubner lives and works in Dusseldorf and at Museum Insel Hombroich.
