Peter Böhnisch: Wedding in Relief

Overview
Peter Böhnisch Experience Above Monet's Garden, 2024 Corundum and pigment on canvas 40 x 32 in 101 x 81 cm
Peter Böhnisch
Experience Above Monet's Garden, 2024
Corundum and pigment on canvas
40 x 32 in
101 x 81 cm
"Böhnisch's journey begins and ends in a union, a marriage between the spiritual and the material world. With arms wide open, the artist invites us to get acquainted with his art and his thoughts and to engage with the same questions that drive him." 
 
Nicola E. Petek
Vardan Gallery is pleased to present Peter Böhnisch: Wedding in Relief, an exhibition of twenty-seven new paintings and drawings by the Berlin-based artist. Known for his evocative exploration of the human psyche, Böhnisch masterfully weaves abstract and figurative elements, employing intricate forms to examine themes of identity, emotion, and the subconscious.

 

Peter Böhnisch (b. 1977, Waiblingen, Germany) studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe under Anselm Reyle and Andreas Slominski. This marks his first solo exhibition with the gallery.

Works
Press release
Wedding in Relief 
by Nicola E. Petek
 
What happens when you allow yourself to feel and believe instead of knowing? We are used to asking any question at any time and receiving a satisfying answer. Are there even any questions today that remain unanswered? Peter Böhnisch surrenders to uncertainty. He is not afraid of it but tries to seek every answer himself. In doing so, he does not take shortcuts. Instead, he moves steadily along his own path. It seems brightly lit, and Böhnisch walks it with confidence. He treads it as the invisible companion of his characters. They are often alone—but never lonely. They bravely raise their sails and set off into the open expanse of the images and the world. In Böhnisch's imagination, the unknown is not threatening but hopeful.  

The voyage across the sea is one of humankind's oldest metaphors for life, as the German philosopher Hans Blumenberg describes in his book Schiffbruch mit Zuschauer (Shipwreck with Spectators). The ocean also plays a central role in art. Water and beaches, harbors, and ships symbolize longing and departure, the force of nature and harmony in equal measure. From Rembrandt van Rijn to Caspar David Friedrich, William Turner, Gustave Courbet, Katsushika Hokusai, and Andy Warhol, to name but a few, the list of those who have been fascinated by the sea is long. Not only traditional painting has been dedicated to the subject, but also conceptual art. Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader, for example, who lived in Los Angeles from the 1960s onwards, intended to sail from Cape Cod to England in a thirteen-foot-long ship in July 1975. The performance, entitled In Search of the Miraculous, was supposed to last sixty days. After three weeks at sea, radio contact was lost. In April of the following year, the unmanned boat was found off the coast of Ireland.  

In contrast to Bas Jan Ader's fate, Peter Böhnisch's voyage takes a happy course. Light and life await him at his destination. He greets even the hardships he encounters on his journey with curiosity and openness. The images reflect a vulnerability that has become rare today, as Böhnisch's work certainly tells of exhaustion and the desire to give up. What seems to save the artist and his protagonists is an unwavering belief in a higher power. This power speaks quietly and cautiously from the pictures. At one time, a wave envelops a striding figure like a warm embrace. At another time, a tree bends protectively over a reclining boy. The raised sails mentioned above are like shields defending against attacks. Again and again, the works take up themes and symbols that have preoccupied Böhnisch for two decades—the portrait, the boat, spiritual encounters. As in older series, the pictures radiate from within.  

The materiality is just as extraordinary as the imagery itself. Böhnisch has been working with sand for ten years, seeing it as a gift and, above all, as a patient experimental material for his alchemical transformations. The results are fine sand reliefs that emerge from the pictorial sphere through their surface, as if they were trying to create a connection to our side of reality. Sometimes the contours break up the hardened surface to allow what lies behind to penetrate. At other times, the pigment floats almost weightlessly on the picture surface.  

Böhnisch's journey begins and ends in a union, a marriage between the spiritual and the material world. With arms wide open, the artist invites us to get acquainted with his art and his thoughts and to engage with the same questions that drive him. Perhaps we will find answers together. Perhaps we will take Böhnisch's approach as an example and leave them unanswered. And perhaps we will simply accept the images for what they seem to be: an attempt to find light in these uncertain times. 
 
The  exhibition is on view from December 7, 2024 to February 1, 2025, Tuesday through Saturday, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

For additional information, please contact info@vardangallery.com
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