 Ruby Slippers, 2004 Oil on canvas, 190 x 280 cm Christoph Ruckhäberle It is a great pleasure to present Christoph Ruckhäberle's first solo exhibition in the gallery. Christoph Ruckhäberle, born 1972 in Germany, takes up an innovative position in contemporary painting. The style of his work has been compared with paintings by George Grosz and Max Beckman from the 1920s and 30s. Though rather than being an anachronism, Ruckhäberle seems to bridge the gap between the past and the present. His relationship with tradition is full of ambiguity. In Ruckhäberle's works classical motifs are subverted by figures that break the traditional form, thematically as well as technically. Behind a stern expression an artistic game with surprising effects and content comes into play. Ruckhäberle's knowledge of classical painting is juxtaposed with the training he acquired studying animation in California. The paintings dissolve space and time. Although perspective is present in his work, one cannot escape the feeling that the background is as flat as the canvas. Like a set piece for a film production it serves no purpose besides acting as a backdrop for the depicted subjects. The motifs are like stills taken from a film. The subjects depicted seem to be quite comically suspended in motion or frozen in a strange choreography. Their solemn faces do not reveal any feeling and they seem to lack any form of interaction. Although the scenes are filled with what can be seen as symbols, one is denied any singular reading. The plot is undisclosed and by no means available to viewer. One is simply allowed a glimpse into an else inaccessible world. This is closely linked with the overwhelming nostalgia one feels when confronted with Ruckhäberle's work. Snapshots from a time lost, they try to give painterly form to what history has erased. This attempt to conjure up a world long gone, is of course impossible from the very beginning. The paintings are mysterious and seem hermetically closed around themselves. They resist the spectator, only slowly giving away their meaning. This is Christoph Ruckhäberle's first solo exhibition outside Germany. Exhibition: March 5 - April 24, 2004 Gallery hours: Tue-Fri 12am - 5pm, Sat 12am - 3pm Galleri Nicolai Wallner Njalsgade 21 (Building 15) DK-2300 Copenhagen Telephone +45 325 709 70 Fax +45 325 709 71 Email nw@nicolaiwallner.com www.nicolaiwallner.com |
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