Galerie b2

For Bastian Muhr, drawing is an important, if not the most important, medium
in his artistic practice. Dot and line are the elements out of which his pictures
emerge. A dot is set, a line drawn, a composition, a picture generated. However,
Muhr does not understand drawing as merely a work with pencil on white
paper, but also as the precise positioning of line with paint on paper or canvas.
It is important for the research and development process that the artist does
not always move freely with his hand from point to point, but that he also
works with rulers and stencils, inserting (semi-) circles and geometric figures.
The aura of classical drawing is thwarted and questioned. Bastian Muhr
searches for the (quintessential) form and as such consistently returns to the
circle, segments of the circle, or the letter “O”. In painting, formations of
colour often collide, establishing lines and borders, and expressing spatial
tension.
It is in Muhr´s pencil drawings that his methodical and systematic approach
can be best appreciated. The artist investigates forms and figures but he does
not draw, in the classical sense, from nature, although his drawings can be
interpreted as an examination of perceived reality. They are effigies and
pictures of order and structures that are not visible. In his images Bastian Muhr
captures his reality, the space of the image and the space of visual reality.
Faced with his large format works on paper the viewer can depending of their
distance from the paper experience an individual topography of folds,
adjustments, twists and rips. The feeling of perspective is lost. The lines merge
into endlessness. An open space results in which Muhrís positioning of line is
always subjected to direct control.
The artist repeatedly erases his lines with a rubber and tirelessly searches for
the drawingís specific systems of reference and coordination. The paper is
strong enough to bear the burden of numerous corrections, corrections he
does not attempt to conceal; they are a part of his work. The gradual process
of his research is disclosed, the application as well as the removal, the search
as well as the discovery. Disappearance is recorded. The seemingly mechanical
drawing, the removal of lines and the variation of line positions, is not a
straightforward process. His line drawings are given painterly attributes
through which the rigor and direct quality of the line is questioned.
Bastian Muhr´s works are a reflection on reality. With his forms and lines he
traces spatial and internal structures, producing images that oscillate between
abstraction and figuration. He continuously breaks through abstract forms
with figurative elements and vice versa. This tension and breadth fascinates
him and it is in this in-between space that his paintings move. Titles such as
Konfettií (confetti), Schwitzerí (Sweater) or Malerhirní (Painter Brain) help the
viewer to engage with the arrangements of line and form and really enter the
picture. These titles, however, only hint towards potential meaning and by
following the lines and their movements the viewer will come to their own
conclusions, will travel beyond boundaries and experience the limitless space.

Dr. Jeannette Stoschek