Jürgen Paas, Christian Frosch, Paul Schwer – PAINTINMOTION

PAINTINMOTION
Christian Frosch, Jürgen Paas, Paul Schwer

Welche Künstler finden Künstler gut? Die Stern-Wywiol Galerie zeigt neue Arbeiten ihres Galeriekünstlers Jürgen Paas und stellt die von ihm eingeladenen Künstler Christian Frosch und Paul Schwer vor

Die Ausstellung vereint drei künstlerische Ansätze, die sowohl mit klassischen Farben als auch mit industriellen Materialien wie MDF, PVC und PET arbeiten. Das ebenso unentbehrliche wie umstrittene und allgegenwärtige Material Plastik steht wie kein anders für unser Zeitalter oder wie der französische Philosoph Roland Barthes schreibt, „Plastik ist die Idee seiner unendlichen Transformation“. Die Künstler versetzen Plastik formal wie inhaltlich in Bewegung, eignen es sich neu an und deuten es um.

Jürgen Paas arbeitet stets in einer Doppelrolle als Maler und Bildhauer. Für seine neue Werkserie JUKEBOX lässt er farbige Kunststoffstreifen in Holzpaneele ein. Mit der Bewegung des Betrachters beginnt das minimalistische Streifenraster sich zu verändern, zu flimmern und offenbart die Finessen der malerischen Farbgebung. Im Stillstand ist nichts zu gewinnen – wie immer vor den Arbeiten von Jürgen Paas.

Christian Frosch betreibt „Malereiforschung“. Er befragt den Urstoff der Malerei – die Farbe – nach ihren physischen wie emotionalen Eigenschaften. Aus Versuchsanordnungen mit Plastikbechern und eingefüllter Lackfarbe entstehen so Skulpturen, die die Schönheit des Zufalls und die Opulenz der Farbe feiern und ihre Gestaltung ausschließlich der chemischen Zusammensetzung von verschiedenen Kunststoffen (Becher und Lack) verdanken.

Paul Schwer sagt von seinen raumgreifenden Skulpturen: „Das ist alles Malerei“. Große Kunststoffplatten werden von ihm zunächst mit geometrisch-abstrakten Motiven bemalt, anschließend erhitzt und dann verformt. Der Zufall ist das entscheidende Moment, das die Malerei verändert und die Form der Skulptur bestimmt.

For the 21st gallery exhibition, it is once again surprising what tremendous diversity there is in contemporary sculpture, surprising how completely different the spaces look again as a result of the new art, surprising the ideas with which the artists work.

With the title PaintINmotion we hit the core of art, but also of our time. Movement or change is the characteristic feature of our time and you find the term everywhere. I think rarely has there been so much of it in such a short time, from technology with the dawn of the digital age, to the readjustment of gender definitions, to the global youth movement of Fridays for future that no one can get past anymore. But let me return to art.

Even the Greek philosopher Heraclitus stated "Panta rhei" - "Everything flows". Everything moves, nothing remains as it is. The world is a constant becoming and changing. Standing still means death.

PaintINmotion, colour in motion is the title of our new exhibition, and it is also a maxim of life in a figurative sense.

For art, it refers to the primordial material of all design, the idea that colour is not a static quantity, not just a "serving" source material, but a changeable and mutable matter in its own right. It is the basic philosophy of the three artists in this exhibition and this evening.

Jürgen Paas, who is already known to many of you from previous exhibitions, has invited two fellow artists who, like himself, work according to this maxim. I would therefore like to warmly welcome

Christian Frosch
Jürgen Paas and
Paul Schwer

None of the three artists can be characterised with a classical "job title" and each of them has found his or her very own.

Christian Frosch describes himself as a "painting researcher". In his mid-20s, he began studying painting and graphic arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Even during his studies, the approach was there to systematically research what art actually is and how it is made. So it is only logical that Christian Frosch has always worked in the field of education and has, for example, taught prospective art teachers the basics of fine art. Today, Christian Frosch teaches as a professor of painting/drawing/space and interdisciplinary artistic strategies at the Caspar David Friedrich Institute of the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald. In his art, he creates series of experiments in which he analyses the mutability of colour and background. He makes the process of material change the subject of his art and tests the flow and drying behaviour of paint, the absorbency of different papers, the strength of PVC. From this he creates works of art that have an analytical rigour, but at the same time a great poetic beauty and a subtle humour. I think it's a perfect mix!

Jürgen Paas always wanted to become an artist. He sees himself as a "classical material painter". He began studying painting at the Folkwang University of the Arts in his mid-20s. He is fascinated by the laws of design, how colours and forms interact, what effects can be achieved and why. That sounds obvious at first and is, after all, THE basic theme of all painting. What is unusual is that the young artist soon turns away from classical materials and looks for industrially produced materials. These materials - coloured PVC strips and MDF - are predetermined and impersonal. To use them in such a way that they function like classical paint, that you can create an emotion with them as well, that you can set the viewer himself in motion with them, that is what is special about Jürgen Paas' art.

When you look at the exhibition, ladies and gentlemen, you will certainly perceive the works by Paul Schwer most as sculptures. And what does the artist say about this? "Everything I do, I do as a painter. It's all painting." The obvious is not always the essential! This maxim can already be seen in the artist's career. Paul Schwer first studied medicine, did his doctorate, trained as a specialist in child and youth psychiatry and worked in this profession for almost 20 years. But it was always clear: this is not a permanent state. The preoccupation with art always went along with it, the doctor began studying art at the same time and at some point it was clear that art was more important. In his mid-40s, Paul Schwer left his existence as a medical doctor and did exclusively what he had always wanted to do - art. Essential to this art is transformation, movement. Dr Reeckmann will explain in a moment how painting comes into the room, how paintings become sculptures, as well as the works of Christian Frosch and Jürgen Paas.

I would like to return here to the title of our exhibition PaintINmotion. Life is change, is movement. What moves us all today, socially and privately, young or not, is the breathtaking speed of change. Art helps us to see such processes in a different light. It shows us the potential of movement and makes us think about how processes of change work in detail. This is aesthetically as well as intellectually refreshing and encouraging - only art can do that and that is the wonderful thing about it!