02.03.–07.04.1991

Contemporary art is often created out of mistrust towards supposedly modern art. Holger Bunk counts as a sceptic mistrusting the withdrawal and decay of pictures. Quietly but persistently, he has therefore continued with his concept of finding pictorial solutions leading, in the past years, to a number of still relatively unknown works.

Holger Bunk, born in 1954 in Essen, studied painting at the Art Academy Düsseldorf under Prof. Alfonso Hüppi. In 1977, Bunk begins cutting out the motifs of his pictures along their contours and placing the painted elements in the real space in front of the pictures. The pictures become three-dimensional, but on account of their illusionary character they always also remain painting.

At the centre of the exhibition is a new work consisting of 4 large-format (420 x 240 cm) paintings standing free in the room and forming a passageway. Different figures appear in the stage-like ambience. Their meaning cannot be grasped by means of conventional iconography. Holger Bunk's painting is not primarily about narrative, but about objects and figures becoming images and appearing abstract in terms of their form and the way they are illustrated in the painting.

In order to make the pictorial as well as compositional and thematic characteristics of Holger Bunk's work clear, the exhibition additionally includes two new figurative wall works which were created since the end of last year, as well as several series of drawings and pastels.

Photos: Katrin Schilling