We have pleasure in presenting new works by the German painter Franz Ackermann (born in 1963 in Neumarkt St.Veit,lives and works in Berlin and Karlsruhe) in our next exhibition. Franz Ackermann is an important representative of contemporary German painting. His work is exhibited regularly in international museums and galleries, such as the Domus Artium in Salamanca in 2007, the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hanover and the Witte de With centre in Rotterdam in 2006, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin in 2005 and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 2002. Mai 36 Galerie has been staging regular exhibitions of his work since 1997.
Franz Ackermann enjoys travelling, and he records his impressions of his frequent journeys and cultural and colour experiences in his famous „Mental Maps“. These are not real sketches, but small water colours which he develops into large-format, frequently dynamic canvases or projects onto the walls of exhibition premises. This results in intensively colourful compositions that oscillate between figuration and abstrac- tion. Some of his works are combined with sculptural elements, others with photographic moments. In addition to his travel experiences, Ackermann‘s work includes phenomena such as globalisation, mobility, thehecticdevelopmentofinformationtechnology,andacceleratedperception. WhenFranzAckermann sets up an exhibition, he responds to the given situation of the exhibition venues in terms of both form and content. His equipment consists of the „Mental Maps“ and his large-format images, which are intentionally unfinished, as well as photographs and sculptural objects. When he is not painting directly on a wall, he often works on the paintings, which usually have small, white patches on which he can respond to situati- onal events or political happenings, in the exhibiting gallery. In this way, he brings an element of flow to the predominantly lethargic medium of oil painting, as well as creating new works for almost every exhibition.
Ackermann‘s visual worlds are packed with architecture, landscapes and urban views that are super- imposed and penetrated by abstract zones. The frequently whirl-shaped, intensively colourful composi- tions seem to suck the viewer‘s gaze into the abyss, and the constantly changing aspects lead to con- fusing perspectives. We rush by cascades of colour and urban motifs and float suspended over flowing layers of colour and structures that turn out to be vibrating centres of energy. The wavy architectural forms embody the chaos and dynamism of cities in our globalised society and give the urban landscape the appearance of living, constantly changing organic entities.
[Text: Dominique von Burg; translation: Maureen Oberli-Turner]