Strawalde

Hunger nach Bildern
Kunstmuseum Reutlingen

Unbridled Creative Energy

Strawalde (Jürgen Böttcher, b. Frankenberg, 1931; lives and works in Berlin) has won international acclaim and numerous awards for his extensive work in film as well as visual art. Strawalde was one of the most prominent oppositional artists in the former East Germany. Living in Dresden, he was the central figure of a private circle of artists, including painters like AR Penck, Peter Herrmann, and Peter Graf, who were harassed by the authorities and prevented from exhibiting their work.

Mounted on occasion of his receipt of the HAP Grieshaber Foundation’s Jerg Ratgeb Prize, the exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Reutlingen gathers around eighty works, inviting the visitor to discover the essence of Strawalde’s visual art. His multifaceted pictures tease out the patterns in reality and savor the magic that dwells in even the smallest things. Animating the fantastic creatures that have sprung from his inkwell, the dance of the line on paper melds form and fortuity in cohesive compositions. Strawalde’s approach to art has always been playful. His well-known overpaintings of art postcards test the limits of decorum in the engagement with masters old and new.

The catalogue accompanying the exhibition includes writings by Carolin Quermann, Benjamin Rux, Ina Dinter, and Anna Nerobova.