Olaf Metzel – Hans von Marées. Eine Annäherung

How to approach it?

Opinions are divided on the work of Hans von Marées (1837-1887); some consider him a failed artist, while others believe he laid the foundations for modernism in Germany. What is the reason for the persistent contradiction with which his painterly work is perceived? And what significance does his work, which is exhibited in its own room (no. 15) in Munich's Neue Pinakothek, have for a contemporary artist like Olaf Metzel (*1952)? Initially, the approach took place through a double exhibition at Metzel's suggestion, as the sculptor specifically sought the confrontation because the neo-idealist approach of the German-Romans, to whom von Marées belongs, contains part of the much-invoked visions of Europe that are so strongly criticised today from politically opposing directions. Hans von Marées' painterly work is juxtaposed directly with some of Olaf Metzel's most advanced sculptures. Metzel, for example, presents us with the classic themes of portraiture and the human figure by placing his sculpture "Turkish Delight" (2006) with a sure hand. He also skilfully allows political worlds to collide: In the large aluminium work "Lampedusa" (2015) with newspaper articles on the refugee issue, the front-page photos alone make you shudder - no comparison, then, with the garden of poets and gods of historical painting. But it is precisely in this way that Olaf Metzel helps his colleague's oeuvre to regain topicality and at the same time makes us aware of the never-ending necessity of artistic provocation. The accompanying volume documents the exhibition in detail and publishes a series of lectures on the current state of the debate.

Exhibition:
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 26/11/2015 - 22/2/2016