RAPHAELA SIMON
2017-03-20Simple forms and vibrant colours define Raphaela Simon’s canvases. The clear compositions are consciously simple, structures are being taken up again, gestures are being repeated which both carry like a thread through the entire work of the artist. Simon works in several layers, she overpaints and modifies previous elements over and over in a continuous and at times longterm process. However, the traces of editing, of adding and removing remain always visible. Coloured forms shine through white areas and here and there dark brushstrokes are spotted underneath lighter parts. Thus, her paintings appear as a form of palimpsest which is being overwritten and reused while still preserving the references of former layers.
Simon gives her paintings concise titles like Föhn, Pflaster or Schacht (hairdryer, band-aid or shaft). Seemingly banal terms of everyday life suddenly turn into the meaningful sense of the work. Simultaneously, she reduces the single work to a first association, a key word. This provides the paintings with a symbolical character that makes them appear like icons.
Thus, the artist creates a contrast to the actual size of her works and the highly charged medium painting. Focused on a word, the abstract visual language seemingly loses its complexity and, similar to a pictogram, emphasises the informative content. In so doing, Simon also plays with the desire of the viewer to construe figurative elements in abstract forms as well as search for references even though these always remain personal interpretations.
Opposite – Waschmaschine, 2017
Exhibition runs through to April 22nd, 2017
Galerie Max Hetzler
Berlin: Goethestraße 2/3
D-10623 Berlin-Charlottenburg
