Art Encounter

Last Monday, Red Baron was invited to the vernissage of the art exhibition Kunstbegegnungen. This event showing works of art from Freiburg‘s sister cities had been planned as a highlight on the occasion of the 900th city anniversary in 2020. Corona spoiled it all but better late than not at all.

The Ukrainian singing group Kupalinka opened and framed the exhibition.

In his welcoming speech, Freiburg's Lord Mayor Martin Horn said, “Having friends all over the world is good for you and broadens your perspective. In times of crisis, however, it can also mean concrete help, as the current aid deliveries from Freiburg to our Ukrainian sister city Lviv prove.”

“Moreover, sister cities also enrich your cultural horizons, as the exhibition vividly shows. Freiburg now has a dozen sister cities, and indeed all twelve are represented in this multi-faceted exhibition with their own artistic contributions ….”

“I am grateful and proud of our lively partnerships with these twelve extraordinary cities - with them, we have found true friends worldwide! Thank you to all who have made this interesting exhibition possible!”

Here is my private choice of art objects that are presently on display at the Meckelhalle.
N.B.: The texts below in italics are copied from the booklet accompanying the exhibition.


Besançon

Thomas Perrin, Résines (2018) 

Thomas Perrin‘s sculptures grow on the floor of museums and art spaces. As a kind of fetish, they mix gender symbolism and unite the masculine and the feminine in forms that recall both the mother’s breasts and childish toys.



Granada

Sebastian Barria, Arcano Ecléctico (2019)

“Imaginary, dreamlike rules are strongly present in my work, as are cosmic and mysterious environments.” To me, the drawing looks like a remake of M. C. Escher.

Liliana Ramírez, Liberdad de expresión (Freedom of Expression, 2019)

A successful variant of the old theme with a brush instead of a pencil.

Guildford

Marilyn McNie, Autumn in Guildford (2019)

The artist mentions three happy years of living and working in Germany, “There are a few things more beautiful than autumn there, but this painting celebrates the beauty of autumn in Guildford.”

Nick Pyne, Caryatids (2019)

“I like to bring together disparate elements to create new and interesting objects or images. Working with mundane and everyday materials often has surprising results.”



Innsbruck

Katharina Cibulka, We certainly don’t do it for the money (2012)

Katharina Cibulka pursues in her works a consistent political agenda, focusing on aspects such as feminism, social justice, communality, and questions about aesthetic processes and the role of art itself … The tremulously flickering neon in handwritten type is programmatic, gently cynical, and at the same time admonishing.



Isfahan

Minoo Iranpour, Borderless (2020)

“The concepts of love and hate coexist, but I have chosen love and intimacy in this work. The video clips are about the immediate, momentary feelings of people … when the phrase ‘I love you’ is heard from different people of different ages and from different communities.”

Masked right to the video installation stands the director of Freiburg's municipal savings bank (Stadtsparkasse), the latter being the main sponsor of the art exhibition.      



Lviv

Tetyana Hamryshchak, Lobster (2019)

“In watercolor, there are no coincidences, no retouching; every spot of color requires a certain plan and a lot of experience. It is this mixture between flowing, almost unrestrained colors and the artist’s clear plan that makes this technique unique in painting for me.”

Madison

Ben Fleischmann, Pink Spring (2019)

Ben Fleischmann, Spring Flamingo (2019)

“I feel good when I paint. Big brushes on the big canvas work best. Sometimes I also like to put tape or tissue paper on the canvas before I paint. I like to do art with the radio on. I paint in time to the music. Painting is great. Sometimes I’m surprised by how my paintings turn out, but I always like them.”

Romano Johnson, Black Panther Car (2019)

“When I was a young kid in Chicago, I would draw ‘cause I love it and I was good at it. It’s what I like to do. I like to draw cars, car parts, faces, hair, clothes, and when I draw and paint, I’m always working for better ideas blending colors, adding glitter, coming up with patterns ….”



Matsuyama

Watanabe Shūji, Ikkaku Sennin (2019)

The mask Ikkaku Sennin (The One-Horned Hermit/Immortal) is a mythological creature born of a deer that loses its supernatural powers when it succumbs to the charms of a woman.



Suwon

Young-Teak Kwon, Otter at Odae Stream (2018)

In his painting, Kwon describes how the otter, which had disappeared because of ecological pollution, returned back to the Odea stream after the environment became cleaner. The clouds in the shape of an otter and a bird are flying over the Odea stream and mountain, illustrating the message of a new hope that respects the law of nature.

Pilyun Ahn, Law of conservation of mass (2019)

The work illustrates the universal principle that everything created passes away … This particular way of looking at the artwork itself tells us the story of existence, absence, and the cycle of life. To me, as a physicist, the artist gives me a chance to look into a black hole that apparently is colored, after all.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Guy Yechiely, Tel Aviv coastline - A View from Old Yafo (2020)

Tel Aviv's coastline is beautiful, vibrant, and lively all day long and especially during its wonderful sunsets when the city skyscrapers are emphasized by its amazing colors.



Wiwili

Julio Barahona, Disfrutando del verano caliente (Enjoying the Hot Summer, 2018)

Julio Barahona, Recuerso del huracan lota (Memories of Hurricane Lota, 2018)

Julio Barahona captures moments of everyday life and documents festivals and celebrations in his city. The nature surrounding Wiwili and the people who live there interest the photographer. In 2018, Hurricane Lota caused great destruction in Wiwili and its environment. 

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