Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends.
I welcome you cordially to the exhibition opening by Anke Feuchtenberger and Stefano Ricci, both of which have found despite the organizational problems between several exhibitions the way to us to be here at the opening. I would like to thank first, and of course that they have accepted our invitation and have provided us with their wonderful work available.
Let me briefly say a few words about the two artists. Anke and Stefano live together in the near Greifswald and are both professors at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg. They also jointly operate the MaMi publisher, where they lay the books of other signatories. Both are considered as important representatives can the avant-garde comics.
We dedicate this exhibition not only this but also the internationally acclaimed illustrators comics as an artistic medium. This comes as important than that in the Federal Republic's public still does not, of course, these two terms - comics and art - to take simultaneously in the mouth, which is really amazing when you consider for example that Lyonel Feininger with The Kin-der-Kids a classic of comic created and that the influence of the genre known as the Visual Arts (keyword: pop art) is undisputed. Perhaps it is because the images are so closely intertwined with stories of their childhood and they are usually reminiscent of the comic element. Maybe it's because only one terminology.
has the Anglo-Saxon world we solved this problem elegantly by one of the Graphic Novel speaks a name that opens doors to literature, while the artistic craft in the form of graphics as well keep an eye on. In general the discussion is on the "Kunstwürdigkeit" of comics there rather unimportant, which may be well founded with a different concept of art as a whole. If one takes a look at the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where painting, design, architecture, film, illustration, etc. are all on equal footing, under the umbrella of the term "modern art", one has to petty grave struggles disciplines rather surprised.
Whether it is in the work of Anke Feuchtenberger and Stefano Ricci Art is, it should therefore not be discussed here. As we show their works in the context of an art club, we have, I think, given our statement on the matter. (Yes, it's art!)
If I'm honest, I must say that I am not a great connoisseur of the comic scene. From this is my whole access to these works more from a viewpoint of the "art", and when you consider experienced by Renaissance, the medium of drawing in the last few years, you have to wonder why we do not have much broader reception of the avant-garde Comics experience. Well, maybe and hopefully we can play our part in this exhibition do so.
Anke Feuchtenberger picture stories point to know why it is not about comics in the traditional sense. The stories are fluid and clear look more like dream sequences, which are symbolically charged. We as viewers are asked to find our own key to the stories that do not follow in their storyboards to the usual narrative scheme of balloons booklet. It is to be named because of their symbolism and associative imagery obvious their work as surrealistic. Accordingly, they would constitute but something that moves on the level of the real, they would run a Enttextualisierung.
exactly what my opinion is not the case. In their Sequences Anke Feuchtenberger search for suitable means, very real circumstances, conditions, feelings and perception to translate the drawing. Play a role in fantasy and fairy tale and the characters do Kafkaesque moments.
found in quantitatively manageable images rather than a compression of time and emotions, a skill that may have developed from the origin of their work, the design of posters, where even among other things, comes as much information as possible in a motive to dispel. One could perhaps for this work the term "Graphic Poem" choose, instead of "Graphic Novel" ... In any case
is the proximity to the literature, among other things in their stories of the "whore H." clear that she has developed with the author Katrin de Vries, of which three volumes have appeared. The experiences of the whore H., moving away from what the title suggests, derives from writings by de Vries, to be implemented by Anke Feuchtenberger in drawings. Thematically, they revolve around gender issues, to power relations and sexuality. The structurally simple but multifaceted content text images created from coal and paper, no illustrations, but imagination, which enrich the linguistic level to provide a visual dimension. The contrast and scale charcoal drawings a dark humor to a difficult subject to transport. From one of the volumes here are some original leaves are seen as excerpts from the stories.
are characterized by similar dark excite at first glance, the work of Stefano Ricci, whose images first, before all, through the technical side of our attention.
His paintings are not only visually impressive, but on closer inspection and tactile interest. The large-scale works, it can be seen here, for example, surprisingly, screen prints, which are pressed directly on these plates. Then there is the unusual technique of "Floccaggio," in which first a kind of adhesive layer printed, on which is then ironed and the color is a velvety surface. The effect is a blackness that seems to swallow everything. By the way, they find the application of this technology in the small series of colorful Anke Feuchtenberger who can see them below.
The paper by Ricci have a mix of materials, which leads from ink, charcoal and acrylic paints to adhesive strips and sheets in the individual characteristics of a relief and gives the media sounds out new comic in a different way. This is also the possibility of painting techniques for drawing comics to make them available. In the transformation of the individual sheets of illustrated stories in the form a book, the artist can by scanning or photographing his work even further elements such as lighting effects for his own purposes usable.
content is remarkable that we encounter in Stefano Ricci's work often questions of appearance and reality. There will be transformations and mutations, a hat and is swallowed his support to a new character - a monkey disappears under a veil, is invisible. In the above examples is the way excerpts from cartoons. The stories are told here and negotiate the issues of perception and deception. The first dark facade can not hide a certain wit and sense of humor, which is not necessarily immediately opens up. Or you would have thought that in this exhibition also staying Bruno the bear?
These two present current positions from the independent comic scene shows us an impressive way that far into the medium of comics are more options than to tell a linear story and to fill balloons. The depth and complexity of their sequential operations excludes the discussion of the value of your chosen medium from the outset, which is probably because they do not rely on the traditierte form of comic strips, but also explore the ways to connect it stories to explore the image. In animated films, with different styles of drawing and unusual printing processes.
So I still have to express my thanks to all our sponsors and of course, assume that you are visiting us for the occasion. Again, many thanks to Anke and Stefano.
Thank you for your attention and I declare the exhibition open.
