RAIMUND GIRKE
1930-2002, GermanyIn the late 1950s, Girke belonged to the generation of young European artists that overcame the Subjectivism of Abstract Expressionism and searched for new objective reductive expressions. Since then, Girke left out modes of traditional composition and concentrated on putting the colour in order according a line schedule. Indeed, he took the colour and ‘wrote it’ onto the canvas. Many of his works’ titles symbolise these characteristics. At the same time, Girke reduced the colours evident in his work to white accompanied with blue and brown tones, formative qualities which have always characterised his paintings.
In Raimund Girke’s work, white is not a static thing, it is constantly moving and changing. White is as elusive as it is beautiful. White is emptiness, non-material, quietness, and stillness. It is the subject and spirit of his paintings. Rather than being restricted by a monochromatic palette, he demonstrates it is an entire world in itself, which can be explored and expanded.
In this infinite universe of complexity and subtlety, he searches for classical order. Girke explores white as a colour and not as a concept. He continues the tradition of ‘Tafelmalerei’, a historical term for the Classical and Renaissance painters who were concerned with order, colour, and light.
Courtesy Axel Vervoordt Gallery
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