Ernst Barlach and Alexander Dettmar

"Square images, areas of color in earth tones with light texture. Contours are carved into the canvas. They show deserted cities and architecture. Stralsund, Wismar. Sometimes abstract in a way that the buildings disappear in the composition, sometimes familiar buildings can be made out.

Positioned against this backdrop of Alexander Dettmar's paintings are bronze figures of Ernst Barlach. Carefully, the reddish metal shimmers in the patina. A special tension is created between the sculptures and the architectural paintings. They invite associations, tell stories. Is the fugitive running away from the background of Thuringian villages or is he seeking shelter here? The beggar woman could also be sitting in the port of Hamburg today.

The expressionist Ernst Barlach had still declared his support for Hitler and the Nazis in 1934 in the 'Aufruf Kulturschaffender'. Three years later, his works were exhibited as "degenerate art" in Munich. The bronze casting "Das Wiedersehen" shown there now stands in front of Dettmar's painting of the Munich Frauenkirche. With the looted art finds at Gurlitt's in mind, it seems like a commentary."

Benedikt Frank

from: Abendzeitung München, 24.02.2014