“Licht, bitte!“

Andi Fischer

 Opening: Wednesday, October 9th, 5-7 pm

Avlskarl Gallery er stolte af at præsentere Licht, bitte!, Andi Fischers tredje soloudstilling i galleriet.

I Andi Fischers nye værkserier har figurerne forladt lærredet. De er krøbet ud af deres vante omgivelser og står nu som tredimensionelle objekter midt i galleriet eget rum, mens de landskaber, de normalt beboer hænger tilbage på væggen. Disse landskaber har til gengæld opnået en større grad af abstraktion, og de for Fischer så karakteristiske, tydelige penselsstrøg synes nu at danse friere i luften.

De fritsatte skulpturer er bronzeafstøbninger, som Fischer efterfølgende har bemalet, så de på én gang er unikke værker og en del af en edition. Der er noget gådefuldt over dem; bemalingen gør materialet ubestemmeligt for øjet, mens figurenes relation til malerierne og til hinanden bliver svære at afkode. Samtidig er der, i Fischers letforståelige formsprog, klare farver og tydelige penselsstrøg en uhøjtidelighed, der gør værkerne umiddelbart relaterbare. Man behøver ikke kende deres forhistorie, deres indbyrdes relationer eller deres mange kunsthistoriske referencer for at holde af dem.

Andi Fischers motivverden tager udgangspunkt i Middelalderens store malere, herunder særligt den tyske kunstner Albrecht Dürer, der ligesom Fischer stammer fra Nüremberg. Som ung mand i Nüremberg mødte Fischer Dürers værker overalt; i skolen, i byrummet og i den lokale selvforståelse. Med maleriet som redskab studerede Fischer Dürers motiver i håb om at få adgang til en forståelse af den kunstneriske arv og de kulturelle koder, han stod på skuldrene af. Men gennem arbejdet med Dürer forstod han, at maleriet ganske vist bærer intellektuelle markører, der kræver en forudgående viden, men at det også kan forstås umiddelbart, gennem sanser og følelserne.

For Fischer er omgangen med kunsthistorien båret af en følelse af samhørighed på tværs af århundreder. I Dürers værker finder han overvejelser om eksistensen – om kærligheden, krigen, døden og sygdommen –  som han genkender i sin samtid. Der er, for Fischer, en tryghed i at vide, at de eksistentielle erfaringer vi gør os som mennesker er uforanderlige, særligt i en tid som vores, hvor krige og kriser synes at være overalt. 

Licht, bitte! er en håbefuld udstilling. En insisteren på, at der selv i mørke tider findes lys og forløsning, at vi kan spejle os i hinanden på tværs af generationer og at der i kunsten findes et sprog, der både taler til dem, der kender alle koderne og dem, der blot lader sig begejstre af farver og former. Også på Dürers tid, var der krige og pandemier, og også Dürer vidste, hvordan et knust hjerte føles. Ligesom Middelalderens mennesker, kommer også vi ud på den anden side: En dag bliver der lys igen.

Andi Fischer (f. 1987) er uddannet fra Universität der Künste Berlin i 2018. Han har tidligere haft soloudstillinger i Åplus (Berlin), Sies + Höke (Düsseldorf), nw9.space (Køln), Larsen Warner (Stockholm) og yee society (Hong Kong). I 2018 vandt han Berlin Master Award og næste år åbner hans første institutionelle soloudstilling på Mannheimer Kunstverein. Andi Fischer bor og arbejder i Berlin.

(English version)

Avlskarl Gallery is proud to present Licht, bitte!, Andi Fischer’s third solo exhibition at the gallery.

In Andi Fischer’s new series of works, the figures have left the canvas. They have crawled out of their familiar surroundings and now stand as three-dimensional objects in the middle of the gallery’s own space. Meanwhile, the landscapes they normally inhabit, have achieved a greater degree of abstraction, and the clear brushstrokes so characteristic of Fischer now seem to dance more freely in the air.

The free-standing sculptures are bronze casts, which Fischer has subsequently painted, making them both unique artworks and part of an edition. There is something enigmatic about them; the coat of paint makes the material indeterminate to the eye, while the figures’ relationship to the paintings and to each other becomes difficult to decode. At the same time, in Fischer’s easy-to-understand idiom, clear colors and simple brushstrokes, there is an unpretentiousness that makes the works immediately relatable. You don’t need to know their prehistory, their mutual relationships or their many art historical references to fall in love with them.

Andi Fischer’s motifs is based on the great painters of the Middle Ages, including especially the German artist Albrecht Dürer, who, like Fischer, originates from Nuremberg. As a young man in Nuremberg, Fischer encountered Dürer’s works everywhere; in school, in the urban space and in the local self-understanding. Using painting as a tool, Fischer studied Dürer’s motifs in the hope of gaining access to an understanding of the artistic heritage and cultural codes he was working within. But through working with Dürer, he understood that the painting certainly carries intellectual markers that require prior knowledge, but that it can also be understood immediately, through senses and emotions.

For Fischer, dealing with art history is born of a sense of cohesion across centuries. In Dürer’s works, he finds reflections on existence – on love, war, death and illness – which he recognizes in his contemporaries. There is, for Fischer, a sense of security in knowing that the existential experiences we make as human beings are unchangeable, especially in a time like ours, where wars and crises seem to be everywhere.

Licht, bitte! is a hopeful exhibition. An insistence that even in dark times there is light and redemption, that we can recognize each other’s thoughts across generational divides, and that art is a language that speaks both to those who’s familiar with the codes and those who just gets excited by colors and shapes. Even in Dürer’s time, there were wars and pandemics, and even Dürer knew how a broken heart feels. Like the people of the Middle Ages, we also come out on the other side: One day there will be light again.

Andi Fischer (b. 1987) graduated from the Universität der Künste Berlin in 2018. He previously had solo exhibitions in Åplus (Berlin), Sies + Höke (Düsseldorf), nw9.space (Cologne), Larsen Warner (Stockholm), and yee society (Hong Kong). In 2018 he won the Berlin Master Award and next year his first institutional solo exhibition will open at the Mannheimer Kunstverein. Andi Fischer lives and works in Berlin.