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Air, 1992
Watercolour on laid paper
18,5 × 24,5 cm
Signed, dated and titled on the verso
Provenance:
Studio of the artist
Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia
Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia
"If you look in one direction in one place for a long time, you can hear how nature speaks from its planetary movement. This goes from sunrise to sunset and continues in the movement of the earth. It can be seen in the weather and light conditions. I try to record this speech like a landscape painter." (Günther Uecker)
"Air" is part of Günther Uecker's 1992 watercolour cycle of the same name. With fine watery blue and blue-grey dots and undulating lines, the artist brings one of the so-called four elements to our attention. Putting the hammer down and reaching for the brush, Uecker takes up the challenge of artistically visualising what is not visible but forms the basis of everything visible.
Air, chemically understood as a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and a number of oxides, is generally invisible, but can become visible depending on the degree of humidity or the proportion of dust particles. Uecker's watercolour seems to make use of this possibility, if one interprets the colour tones used in this context. By means of the fine, light dots, the undulating lines and rows of dots, Uecker symbolises the floating, the light, the seemingly immaterial nature of the air and its movement, which can be felt in the wind.
The structures resulting from the brushstroke appear like a transformation of his nail reliefs into the medium of watercolour, which in its delicacy and sensitivity does justice to the preciousness and sensitivity of the subject. Anette Brunner
"Air" is part of Günther Uecker's 1992 watercolour cycle of the same name. With fine watery blue and blue-grey dots and undulating lines, the artist brings one of the so-called four elements to our attention. Putting the hammer down and reaching for the brush, Uecker takes up the challenge of artistically visualising what is not visible but forms the basis of everything visible.
Air, chemically understood as a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and a number of oxides, is generally invisible, but can become visible depending on the degree of humidity or the proportion of dust particles. Uecker's watercolour seems to make use of this possibility, if one interprets the colour tones used in this context. By means of the fine, light dots, the undulating lines and rows of dots, Uecker symbolises the floating, the light, the seemingly immaterial nature of the air and its movement, which can be felt in the wind.
The structures resulting from the brushstroke appear like a transformation of his nail reliefs into the medium of watercolour, which in its delicacy and sensitivity does justice to the preciousness and sensitivity of the subject. Anette Brunner