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Bernd Koberling Landscape paintings (1964-1983) |
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From September 10th through October 27th, 2007, EL SOURDOG HEX e.V. will be showing the work of Bernd Koberling (b. 1938, Berlin). At the time Bernd Koberling began his professional career in the Sixties, his paintings were highly influenced by abstract expressionism and informal painting of the Fifties. Koberling's paintings are by no means mere 'landscapes,' but much more a personal and poetic interpretation of nature. Koberling focuses on nature's manifestations in the north of Europe. As Bera Nordal, the curator of the Malmö Konsthall said of Koberling's art in 2001, "His paintings remind me of how nature can be both explosive and intense. Looking at them, means so much more than just seeing what's in front of you, it's about smelling and sensing something inside of yourself. It's more than just an act of seeing nature, it's realizing that we ourselves are a part of it." His attitude towards nature has changed over time. He no longer approaches it as an outsider looking in, but instead sees himself as an intrinsic part of nature. At the same time, he looks at mankind's ongoing destruction of all things natural: how we brutally bend nature to our will, rather than trying to be in sync with the natural world. According to Frank Frangenberg's 2006 biography on Koberling, "His earlier works spotlight the spectator's confrontation with objects and things. Later, Koberling literally hovers above the physical world to gain a new perspective on it." In fact, Koberling's paintings have been void of people, since the mid-Eighties.
Bernd Koberling resides in Berlin; he finds peace and quiet in Lodmundarfjördur, a valley on the east coast of
Iceland. Spending several months of the year in Iceland is as important to him as having a studio in Berlin. Iceland is
a pristine place. In 1982, Wieland Schmied stated that during the many summers there, Koberling has come to know the
land, how it grows, thrives and withers. The Icelandic terrain has been in no way been obscured. The shape of the
mountains, the panoramas, the horizon that stretches into infinity - bounded only by the sky and sea: these are the
things that immediately catch your eye. You get a sense of the land's ever-changing structure, exposed to the winds
and forces of nature. Its waters, both hot and cool, are all-powerful sculptors. Its earth, so rich and tactile, has
infinite manifestations, immeasurable depth and limitless colors. Bera Nordal believes that what draws Bernd Koberling
to Iceland is its complexity, delicacy and fragility. It was in Iceland that Koberling first started his work with
watercolor. He investigates microcosmic structures. Transparent, compassionate, sensual. Since the end of the Nineties,
he has worked with super-anodized Dibond® aluminium sheets.
Bernd Koberling is an unassuming Expressionist. Rather than coming at you head-on, his works are subtle yet resolute.
To him, the tranquillity of the landscape is excitement enough.
Exhibition: |