#1198

Arvid Boecker is a German abstract painter whose work mobilizes the tensions and harmonies that exist between color relationships, textures, and the processes of time. He lives and works in Heidelberg, Germany.

Education

Boecker studied art history at the University of Trier from 1987-89, and studied at the University of Fine Arts Saar, Saarbrücken, from 1989-94. He has completed residencies at ACME Studios London, Katwijk aan Zee, NL, and Kilmuir, Isle of Skye, GB.

Technique

Boecker begins each new work by penciling in his composition. But the work ultimately is about the colors and layers that will evolve on the surface over time. He builds his paint up in a slow process, adding layers of color then partially removing them, allowing the echoes of erosion to remain visible in the final work. The screen printing squeegees he employs add their unique impressions to the surface, mixing the visual language of painting with that of printing. The gradual accumulation of pigment conveys a visual sense of depth, while also communicating a bittersweet emotional feeling that time is passing. The longer one stares at the surface, the further inward the mind may wander towards the underlying landscapes of color and light.

Inspiration

Boecker derives inspiration from opposing forces he perceives in the visual world. He brings out harmonies and tensions between light and dark hues, and between fields of unbroken color and worn down layers. He finds guidance for the next painting from the final state of his previous painting. The idea that his progressions unfolding in a series lets creative momentum build from one composition to the next. Through the comparisons he makes between each work and the last he comes to understand what makes each painting unique. He is also interested in cycles, gradual forces, and the pressures they exert. While constructing his images he is not frivolous, but rather thoughtful and repetitious, building and layering. This method is born of an appreciation for natural rhythms, and a desire to emulate the elemental aspects of nature.

Relevant Quotes

Professor Hans Gercke of the Academy of Fine Arts, Saarbrucken, Germany wrote about Boecker's work: “Boecker always takes a fresh approach to the painting process through the parameters of format, picture size, segmentation and surface structuring: through rhythm and layering; through the balance of rule and deviation, construction, impression and expression; through the horizontal and the vertical; and through the relationship of colour tones, light and dark, cold and warm; a truly inexhaustible subject that skirts redundancy, despite or perhaps because of Boecker's strict minimalistic stance and systematic approach.”

Exhibitions

Boecker has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions, including at White Cube Gallery, New York, Gallery p13, Heidelberg, ART Cologne, Factory 49, Sydney, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA, and Factory 49, Sydney.