31.03. - 27.05.2017
Ralf Peters was born 1960 in Luneburg. He studied art at the University for Fine Arts in Braunschweig, at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Nîmes and at the Academy for Fine Arts in Munich. He lives and works in Hamburg.
Focal points of the exhibition are the new series WINTER, two new works of the series KEEN INSIGHT and three individual works by Ralf Peters.
In the series WINTER Ralf Peters is showing another facet of his works. Here it is a real time intervention that takes place on the spot. The recorded image remains untouched. At night, during the exposure time the artist is illuminating the subject with a hand torch. The depicted subject seems to glow while the rest of the picture is covered in the black colour of the night. Because of this technique the work becomes a painterly aspect.
In the large sized landscape images of the series KEEN INSIGHT the artist is testing our visual perception. For the first time in Ralf Peter’s pictures every single detail is equally sharp. There is no differentiation between the different levels in the picture or a focussing on a core area. The smallest dewy hair of a corn poppy bud is shown in the same resolution as the distant huge tree in the background. This innovative way of representing seems transcendental and appears strange to us because there is one thing it tells the beholder: Every detail either in the foreground or in the background is equally ranked. The artist’s message is not only related to nature and the problem of its representation, but also closely reflects the political structures of our time. It’s about the observer standing in front of a variety of informations, institutions and problems, lots of details, which he has to face, paralyzed, unable to change. The structures are both levelled wether it is the small corn puppy or the huge tree. Regardless which, city council or federal government takes care of it: All are dealing the same way with the political crises and so there is, as in the picture, no differentiation anywhere. Differentiation is not taking place because there is no difference any more wherever things are happening – everything is equally important.
The other works of Ralf Peters shown, entitled Citrus, Gliders and Red Chair. These works are about to cross the barrier to kitsch: dreamworlds, figments of the imagination and idealized landscapes in the most luminous colours. The pictures have a different meaning and a different message as they have in KEEN INSIGHT. The artist is presenting an illusory world, whereto the viewer can escape instead of dealing with the hard reality.
Focal points of the exhibition are the new series WINTER, two new works of the series KEEN INSIGHT and three individual works by Ralf Peters.
In the series WINTER Ralf Peters is showing another facet of his works. Here it is a real time intervention that takes place on the spot. The recorded image remains untouched. At night, during the exposure time the artist is illuminating the subject with a hand torch. The depicted subject seems to glow while the rest of the picture is covered in the black colour of the night. Because of this technique the work becomes a painterly aspect.
In the large sized landscape images of the series KEEN INSIGHT the artist is testing our visual perception. For the first time in Ralf Peter’s pictures every single detail is equally sharp. There is no differentiation between the different levels in the picture or a focussing on a core area. The smallest dewy hair of a corn poppy bud is shown in the same resolution as the distant huge tree in the background. This innovative way of representing seems transcendental and appears strange to us because there is one thing it tells the beholder: Every detail either in the foreground or in the background is equally ranked. The artist’s message is not only related to nature and the problem of its representation, but also closely reflects the political structures of our time. It’s about the observer standing in front of a variety of informations, institutions and problems, lots of details, which he has to face, paralyzed, unable to change. The structures are both levelled wether it is the small corn puppy or the huge tree. Regardless which, city council or federal government takes care of it: All are dealing the same way with the political crises and so there is, as in the picture, no differentiation anywhere. Differentiation is not taking place because there is no difference any more wherever things are happening – everything is equally important.
The other works of Ralf Peters shown, entitled Citrus, Gliders and Red Chair. These works are about to cross the barrier to kitsch: dreamworlds, figments of the imagination and idealized landscapes in the most luminous colours. The pictures have a different meaning and a different message as they have in KEEN INSIGHT. The artist is presenting an illusory world, whereto the viewer can escape instead of dealing with the hard reality.
Exhibited works
