Vantage and Scale; When Ordinary Becomes Extraordinary. Cornelius Völker at the Von der Heydt - Museum

In March I had the opportunity to visit Wuppertal, Germany for the opening of my solo exhibition WACHSSPUREN at the Gallerie Kunstkomplex. In earlier posts I gave details about my travels and the exhibition, but I have not had a chance to post about a worthy painting exhibition I saw at the Von der Heydt Museum located in the city of Wuppertal. 

I started out one morning walking to the mid-town Museum location to meet my friend and artist Bodo Berheide, where we planned to see a newly installed exhibition of German Expressionism. How appropriate to be in Germany to see this exhibit, and I was looking forward to works that might be more obscure in the big picture and may not have traveled as widely as many well know iconic works from the period. Big disappointment, when we arrived we found the installation "still in progress" and were informed the show would not officially open for several days. We had seen posters for another exhibition that was located at the Museum's crosstown facility so we so we caught the rail and walked across town. The ads and posters for the Cornelius Völker exhibit,  gave a modest indication it was a figurative painting exhibition. 

Bodo and I were pleasantly surprised when we entered the museum to find a powerful exhibition of large-scale, lushly painted works that included subjects of the ordinary and mundane, that of insignificance, waste and detritus, and all charged with an energy beyond their material intent. The work of Cornelius Völker is compelling, not just for the scale and vantage of his subject matter, but also for the swift spontaneous strokes of rich thick paint lathered onto the surface with skillful mastery.

Völker, born in Kronach, Germany, studied at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Dieter Krieg. While Völker has exhibited in the US, the majority of his activity has been in Germany, with notable sites in Belgium, Norway and Austria. The exhibition in Wuppertal continues to the end of May. For more details on the artist visit his website: Cornelius Völker

Hands 2003 oil on canvas 78.7 x 118.1 inches

Hands 2003 oil on canvas DETAIL

Hands 2003 oil on canvas DETAIL

Bodo in front of Hands painting shows a sense of scale.

Gallery Installation View.

Books 2007 oil on canvas 118.1 x 70.9 inch

Books 2007 oil on canvas DETAIL

Lighter 2009/2010 oil on canvas 94.5 x 63.0 inch

Browning GPDA 2009 oil on canvas 39.4 x 41.3 inch

Smith & Wesson Detetive Specialt 2009 oil on canvas 39.4 x 41.3 inchs

Man 2007 oil on canvas 74.8 x 55.1 inch

Man 2007 oil on canvas DETAIL