(Brandl and Leonard Bullock continue their debate about contemporary painting, as seen in a quartet of shows in Basel, Switzerland and nearby locales in Europe.)
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MSB: It is also a shame that curator Peter Pakesch, with all his knowledge of artists living nearby the Kunsthalle, didn’t include any of them in his show After Reality – Realism and Current Painting. Perhaps this was due to the “figurative” theme of the exhibition. This absence was made up for to some extent by the many area-resident painters included in commercial gallery shows and by the "painting scene” exhibition at the Kulturhaus Markgräflerhof, titled No Man/Woman into the Same River Steps Twice.
LB: This relatively new venue offered a broad view of the Rhinelands: work that is recent and has a strong relationship to the Basel.
MSB: We must add, in an appropriate disclosure of interest, that both of us had paintings featured in this exhibit. In the world of art criticism, “one” is not actually allowed to discuss one’s own work in a review until one is famous enough — I say that in the appropriately passive third person.
LB: Well then consider my comments as about a show including you, and your discussion as about a show including me. A trade-off. Besides, there are around 20 additional participants.
MSB: Actually, we should only talk about the others in the exhibition and it’s unique structure.
LB: This show had a bit of the chambre d’amis ambience. Works were installed by being propped against furniture, on chests of drawers, placed on a mattress and so on. The effect felt cloud-like in the half-light of the medieval building. Some of the artists belong to those who have been introduced by Pakesch such as Hofmann and Markus Gadient, some are recognized figures in Europe such as Horst Münch or Klaus Merkel, whom I’ve heard David Reed mention as his favorite German painter.
Klaus Merkel painting
To Be Continued .....
Keep up the good work guys -- I've enjoyed reading your critiques
hey leonard,so glad you're still out there painting.Helen