Heribert C. Ottersbach:
Between Strategy and Attitude
Senate House Exhibition Hall,
University of Liverpool
6 October - 10 November 2000
Heribert Ottersbach has achieved success internationally but his paintings are little known in the UK. In the second showing of his work in this country ten recent paintings are brought together at the University of Liverpool's Senate House from 6 October to 10 November.
The demolition of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the end of Iron Curtain politics have had a strong impact on the work of Heribert C. Ottersbach. His interest in the fall of the Berlin Wall is part of a broader interest in the cultural traditions of the twentieth century.
Ottersbach often works with 'found images' in his painting. He works freely often adding invented 'archival pictures' to the images he has discovered from existing sources. The images are manipulated using computer software to create a "digital sketchbook or imagepool".
There is nothing mechanical about the creation of Ottersbach's finished paintings. The creative process remains vital: "The moment at which the images generated digitally are transferred to the canvas something different is created: Painting. Painting includes a physical impact, it is 'body-work' far away from written language or computer generated images." This intimate relation between artist and canvas is conveyed to the viewer in the subtlety and delicacy of the paintings themselves. Although primarily an artist of ideas Ottersbach's skill as a painter draws us into a deeper sensory engagement with his art.
'Between Strategy and Attitude' is part of 'Eight Days a Week', an exchange of art exhibitions bringing the work of Cologne artists to Liverpool. 'Eight Days a Week' is being showcased at many Liverpool galleries between 6 October and 10 November 2000.
Senate House Exhibition Hall
University of Liverpool
Oxford Street, Liverpool L69 7WY
www.liv.ac.uk
