Gallerynote 1/2005

February 8 to April 16, 2005

ANDREAS CHRISTEN (b. 1936)
For a good fifteen years, Andreas Christen has used MDF panels as the material for his works. The pieces are cut to size and joined together, thus remaining autonomous as a surface. The various inclined and juxtaposing planes form lines. These are not illusionistically rendered divisions of the surface, but rather real factors of an integral spatial and formal happening. The finished objects are sanded and sprayed white, their materiality retreating to allow a uniform visual impression. The calibration of the matte white color is the result of numerous attempts and long experience. Shadings determined by the light give clear definition to the inclined surfaces, with light and shadow becoming evident as the basis of spatial seeing.

The angle of inclination of the surfaces and their formal organization, the repetition of the elements as well as the internal and external proportions are the means of creation. The delimitation of the object serves to articulate the infinite expansion of the space. This delimitation is often defined as a fragment, as a cutout from a larger structure. Yet the cut piece can also follow from the quadratic structure of a work. Occasionally parts in the peripheral zones of a work are omitted. The intermeshing of internal formal organization and surrounding context thus refers to the virtual continuation of the structure in infinite space.

Space is of elemental importance for artist and designer Andreas Christen. To him, spatiality is a reality of the first order. Objects measure and accentuate the space. They are what allow us to see and perceive space. Man-made objects represent cultural achievements and values that make the world inhabitable and experienceable. Works of art and commodity objects lay claim to and construe the lebensraum. The fundamental significance of space is the point of departure for his creative work and his considerations as an artist. His works furnish the equipment that enable discussions of space.

The works, neither paintings nor reliefs, intervene in the continuum of spatial experience. They interrupt and structure it. Isolated and delimited, spatial properties are thus thematicized. The unconscious process of perceiving becomes a conscious act of perception. Conditions of spatial perception are made vivid. The created object encompasses no volume, nor does it exclude space. The works refuse all further projections and assignations of meaning.

For Andreas Christen, the task and role of the visual artist is limited and defined. The relationship of the object to the possibilities of the apparatus of human perception constitutes inexhaustible and productive thematic material.

Further exhibition

JERRY ZENIUK: On Saturday, February 26, 2005, from 11:00am to 4:00pm, we will open a presentation of selected new watercolors by the artist in the entrance area of the gallery. (Through April 16, 2005.)