Galerie Adler Frankfurt presents new works by Sebastian Gogel. Exhibition open through June 26, 2010
The great philosophical questions are actually banal, says Gögel, because everyone asks them. In fact, the only reason they’re considered “great” is because everyone asks them. In the works of the Leipzig-based artist they are at any rate omnipresent: the whole panoply of existential questions, human fears and needs and the states that summon them. These are illustrated by Gögel, who also draws, tattoos and sculpts, in some cases drastic shape, but never in a way that would convey a moral judgement.
Sebastian Gogel Euphoria 2009, Galerie Adler Frankfurt
He focuses mainly on creating forms in covering colours, which he then varies in a creative process that itself constitutes a kind of material for him, until he has managed to find a pictorial equivalent for the desired atmosphere or mood. What makes Gögel’s works special is that most viewers intuitively recognize their themes, although they would be hard put to describe them.
With a combination of word and image – Gögel always give his works short and telling titles – the artist explains and interprets what is depicted. “Existence” for example shows a sunflower that performs not only an upward motion to the light, but also a countermovement back to the ground. A bow, that appears almost humble. The fine, mocking humour that often shines through here can be read as a discreet hint to acknowledge the artist’s inadequacies – but not to take them too seriously. The fact that Gögel doesn’t think much of bombastic posturing is obvious both from his above remark on the “great philosophical questions” and from the way he depicts his themes.
Just as one can articulate universal certainties using complex sentence structures in order to lend them an exalted gravity, it is also possible to exaggerate the pathos of basic truths using pictorial means. The chosen theme is then presented with a grand gesture and, most importantly, without any trace of irony. Not so with Gögel.
The rich formal variety and sombrely glowing colours of some of his works do indeed make an opulent impression – “baroque expressionism” as Gögel calls his pictorial language with a wink in his eye. But upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that these images instead represent extremely incisive metaphors for specific sensations, or that they convey communicative vibrations that are capable of evoking very concrete emotional associations in the respective viewer. It’s an impression similar to when you wake up and can still clearly recall the basic feeling of a dream, but the “story” has already faded.
This is what makes Sebastian Gögel’s artworks as haunting as they are bewildering: primal fears, drives, predilections that we wouldn’t dare to live out in our daily existence are given physical form in these pictures – in a thoroughly personal way for each of us. Because every viewer has his own experiences and conflicts, whose reverberations only he can recognize.
Galerie Adler Hanauer Landstraße 134, 60314 Frankfurt, Germany, +49 (0)69-43053962 [email protected]
www.galerieadler.com
