André Butzer
Thursday, 21 May 2009
André Butzer is a German artist whose work is not typically my idea of beauty. I have an affinity to minimalism and simplicity, but his work is frequently the complete opposite of my ideals. Jarring colours and crude, rudimentary figures explode onto his canvases, creating paintings that exude a wild, rather unrestrained, energy and creative flow. However, every colour and figure used seems to be carefully articulated, not just randomly chosen. The result is one that exudes passion and power, such as the one below titled “Hemmleben”. It is his method and approach to art that challenged my perception of beauty.
“Balancing between abstraction and figuration, Butzer’s crude aesthetics point to a modern day primitivism. Positing an instinctive response to the over saturation of media imagery and the constrictive weight of art history, Butzer’s paintings strive for, yet acknowledge the futility, of genuine expression. This ideological bankruptcy runs throughout Butzer’s work as a kind of ’slacker virtuoso’ which humorously combines angst of modernism with an unapologetic Kippenberger-like cynicism.” (Saatchi Gallery)
Picture sourced from (Art Daily)