A look at Herbert Brandl's new catalog, published by Koenig Books, London, as part of the exhibition "24/7". With numerous illustrations and texts by Robert Fleck, Christoph Bruckner, Sandro Droschl.
The exhibition "24/7" (Twenty-four/Seven) at Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien (KM– Graz) focuses on Herbert Brandl's fundamental artistic approach to painting. Painting is examined here not only in terms of its nature and its circumstances, but rather as one medium among many, which in addition to fundamental compositional and tactical considerations, leads to an interest in the intermediate. With "24/7" it becomes clear that Brandl's artistic orientation and positioning lie in his ongoing preoccupation with art, and his particular interest in conceptual strategies for dealing with painting, dating back to his early youth. On closer inspection of the work as developed over decades, it becomes clear that Brandl derives his painting from the conceptual art of the 1970s and its questioning of the concept of the work, of anti-form, and the unceasing play with art and being an artist. This is contrasted by other readings that delight in formal mastery and even “sublime” pictorial forms, which may well be self-evident, but (mis)lead into confusion. Behind all the alleged pictorial power of various realistic or abstract "subjects" and their "images," which are clearly legible at first glance, lie perceptions and phantasmagorias that refer to an idea and its realization beyond what is depicted - which could be what makes "good" painting and its "politics." However, the exhibition does not aim to transfigure the artist into a conceptualist: Rather, the show seeks to name the conceptual starting point of his artworks. It is precisely this starting point that enables a thoroughly emotional and intuitive play with criteria associated with the medium, such as composition, hatching, texture, etc., in the concrete painting process and inspires Brandl's incredible feeling for colorfulness and depth to the finished work.
128 pages
Illustrations in color
German / English
Edited by Sandro Droschl, Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien, 2020
With texts by Robert Fleck, Christoph Bruckner, Sandro Droschl
Graphic design: Nik Thoenen, Maia Gusberti (Bern/Wien)
Koenig Books, London
ISBN 978-3-96098-784-0
Price: 22 Euro
Publishing date, February 2021
This publication has been supported by
Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna; Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt; Knust Kunz Gallery Editions, Munich; Thomas Angermair, Vienna
