Frank Darius
dal 21/3/2013 al 16/5/2013
Segnalato da
21/3/2013
Frank Darius
Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung, Berlin
Here is Paradise. Darius presents images of emptiness, in which nature is reduced to minimal traces, in contrast to his last book Willkommen im Garten (Welcome to the Garden).
“To wander in fog, how strange!
Lonely is every bush and every stone,
No tree sees the other near,
Every one stands alone.”
(Hermann Hesse)
In this exhibition Frank Darius presents images of emptiness, in which nature is reduced to
minimal traces, in contrast to his last book Willkommen im Garten (Welcome to the Garden).
Bent blades of grass set against a snowy surface become calligraphic signs; reeds in the
water turn into lines on a white background; and delicate lines forming a wire-mesh reveal
themselves as threads of hops before a light grey sky. In these works Darius transitions from
the garden to paradise. His garden of paradise occupies a sphere beyond the dichotomy
between nature and culture.
The reduced markings seem to indicate a conscious negation of
cultural aggression. Darius risks making a contribution to the re-enchantment of the world
through images of steadfast beauty. He demonstrates that a paradise lies deep within each
of us, beneath many layers of perception — and that feeling always precedes reason.
“In his images of nature Frank Darius transforms the world into most delicate poetical
structures. “What is nature in actuality?” asks Darius in his work, in which the smallest
indications of living forms, twigs, leaves, and fragile webs are nearly obliterated by snow,
water, and fog. With his radically honest imagery Darius shows us that the world is an inner
space endlessly unfolding as a poetic process. The viewer realizes that we are also a part of
the world, but the real world simultaneously reveals itself as our interior.
This attitude
counters our postmodern invocation of being separated and lost. Failures and ruptures are
inherent to life itself; we carry them within as sparks of life that enable us to see poetic
beauty. Thus paradise can be nowhere else but here. It reveals itself, but only in the moment
of its beholding.” (Andreas Weber in Frank Darius: DAS PARADIES IST HIER, exhibition
catalogue Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg 2013)
Accompanying Program:
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 7:00 pm. As part of the “Literaturhaus der Fotografie” series,
the Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation hosts a reading and discussion with Dr. Andreas Weber on
the relationship between art and nature from the perspective of biology as a creative
discipline.
Moderated by Thomas Böhm, Director of the internationales literaturfestival berlin.
Free entry. Please register for this event due to limited seating.
Image: Hopfen I (Hops I), 2011, 70 x 82 cm, © VG Bildkunst Bonn/ Frank Darius
Press relations:
artpress – Ute Weingarten Elisabethkirchstr. 15 10115 Berlin +49 (0)30-21961843 artpress@uteweingarten.de
Opening: Friday, March 22, 2013 at 7:00 pm - the artist will be present
Opening Remarks: Dr. Andreas Weber
Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung
Auguststr. 75 l 10117 Berlin
Opening hours: Tues to Sun 11:00 am – 6:00 pm, Thurs 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Admission free