BlickWINKEL

About

The title "Blickwinkel" refers not only to the different approaches the three women take in their art, but also to the perspectives the exhibition venue offers on the works of art.

Annette Werndl and Gabriele Middelmann are two established artists who realise their themes through abstract painting, yet they could hardly be more different. While Werndl's works are characterised by an extremely expressive, colour-explosive style, Middelmann's are the countless layers that lend her paintings an almost spiritual depth beyond the visible surfaces.

With exhibitions in Tokyo, New York, Lisbon and Venice, Annette Werndl has also established herself internationally; she describes her works with a quote from Kandinsky "Colour is a force that directly influences the soul". In her works, the eye is drawn to the exposed traces of colour on the lower pigment surfaces, which reveal the colour architecture of the painting. This creates a field of tension between pure colour surfaces and linear traces. This moving formal language leads to an energetic composition.

Gabriele Middelmann, who in addition to her artistic career is a renowned specialist book author as well as a sought-after lecturer on abstract art, comments on her works "As in life, so in my art, it is always a matter of perspective, and distance, how I look at it. For me, distance and perspective bring into play the clarity necessary for objective judgement!"

Petra van Husen has chosen a completely different approach for herself: Photography. Unlike Werndl and Middelmann, who both look back on decades of art-making, van Husen, as a newcomer, has only been showing her art in exhibitions since 2019. However, with exhibitions in Germany, Austria and South Africa, she has already made a name for herself as an innovative conceptual photographer. She says of her works: "It is not the view through the camera that changes the view of the world, but only the conscious seeing that precedes the photographing. I take pictures that I would never see without a camera."

The exhibition was curated by Barbara Lenhard and Florian Gast. "The Brüderkirche as a location with its centuries-old history forms a fascinating contrast to the contemporary works of these three art power women and I am very proud that we can realise this exhibition together" says Barbara Lenhard.