HERBERT BRANDL

In his latest works Brandl pursues his in-depth exploration of the complex themes of nature, landscape and abstraction. Here, at the focal point of his artistic output, he has chosen to place deserted observations of nature. Captivating his interest is the elaboration of individual motifs such as mountain formations, crystals, waterfalls, hyenas and lions, motifs to which he has returned time and again in cycles of works elaborated over long periods of time. As with his latest theme, the rose, these are motifs with clichéd attributions which he approaches with his own substantive and formal examination. Scaled up onto large-format canvases, framed in excerpt-like details and rendered detached from their contexts, they gain a certain urgency and monumental presence. It is their originality and seemingly untouched nature which Brandl has addressed with his idiosyncratic gaze and highlighted in his works. He alternates between abstraction and figurative representation. The transitions are often fluid, the precise brushstrokes merely hinting at the substance of what is depicted. This is impactful painting, its starting point the free flow of the paint application and the dynamics of the colouration.

HERBERT BRANDL was born in Graz in 1959; he lives and works in Vienna. 20042-2019 Professorship at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 1989 Herbert Brandl took part in the São Paulo Biennale and, in 1992, the Documenta IX in Kassel. In 2007 he represented Austria at the Venice Biennale. Solo exhibitions (selected): Kunsthaus Graz; Kunsthalle Graz; Belvedere 21, Vienna (2020), Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, Switzerland (2017), Haus der Kunst St. Josef, Solothurn; Osthaus Museum Hagen (2016), Kunsthalle Emden; Altana Kulturstiftung, Bad Homburg; Bank Austria Kunstforum, Vienna (2012), Albertina, Vienna (2010), Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2009), Künstlerhaus Graz, Austria; Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz (2002), Kunsthalle Basel (1999), Secession, Vienna (1998), Museum Haus Esters, Krefeld (1994), Museum Van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent; Kunsthalle Bern (1991). Solo exhibitions at Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna: 1997 (with Adrian Schiess), 1998, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020 Museum collections (selected): Albertina, Vienna; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Kunsthaus Zürich; Kunstmuseum Bonn; Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris; Museu Serralves, Porto; Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna; Reina Sofia, Madrid; Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich; The Renaissance Society, Chicago; Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz.