It's only after taking a closer look, however, that it
becomes clear how deceptive the initial impression actually is - that the
apparent "nature" actually derives from another, harder nature. While the
contrasts dominate at a distance, seen from close up, the works produce an
oscillation of perception between optical deception and the knowledge of a
highly concrete, nearly banal objectivity. It almost seems as though the
picture's effect were spreading into the room, determining it: "My attempt
at activating a real space through creating structures, to enable that
space to be experienced as a pure state of objective aesthetics, led me to
pursue new formal means," Uecker stated in the early sixties. "I use nails
as structural elements; I don't want them to be seen as nails. In using
these means, I'm concerned in creating an oscillation in their ordered
relationship to one another, one that disturbs their geometric order, is
capable of unsettling it. The white objects are to be seen as a state of
extreme intensity in continuous change, due to the fluctuation in light. I
consider mutability to be important; it is able to convey the beauty of
movement."
Günther Uecker: Verletztes dunkles Feld, Deutsche Bank Collection
In all likelihood, Gunther Uecker, like so many artists of his time, could
have continued producing his nail objects for the rest of his life. Yet
this would have meant stagnation at some point; to an artist who had found
his creative creed in movement, this prospect would have been
unsatisfactory indeed.
|
Instead, Uecker chose diversity, making films and putting
on performances again and again. Throughout the eighties, he turned to
painting with greater urgency, often applying the paint to the canvas with
his bare hands.
Günther Uecker: Performance "Schwarzraum-Weissraum",
Museum Folkwang Essen, Germany, 1975,
from catalogue: Kunstverein Braunschweig, 1979
Uecker's themes have changed over time. Now, the suffering human being
increasingly occupies his attention. He has also been integrating language
into his art; in the work
60 Wörter aus dem Alten Testament - Verletzung der Menschen durch den Menschen
(60 Words from the Old Testament - Injury of People at Other People's Hands
, 1992), for instance, Uecker painted words such as "Fallen" (to fall),
"Zerren" (to pull), "Schleifen" (to drag), and "Ausrotten" (to
exterminate) onto empty sheets of paper. Gunther Uecker's commitment does
not restrict itself to the creation of art alone. To this day, he has also
remained actively involved in the fight for human rights in Tibet. In
essence, Uecker, who was awarded a Bundesverdienstkreuz 1.Klasse
(German Federal Service Cross, 1st Class) and is a member of the French
"L'Ordre pour le Mérite," has always remained highly political. But it was
a long way that began back at a party on the banks of the Rhine in
Dusseldorf.
Translation: Andrea Scrima
[1]
[2]
[3]
|
