- Diese Veranstaltung hat bereits stattgefunden.
TERRA INCOGNITA solo show by Christian Achenbach.
23. November 2023 - 20. Januar 2024
The exhibition title “Terra Incognita”, borrowed from Latin and literally translated as “unknown soil,” refers, in its historical context from the early 15th century, to geographical territories that had not yet undergone in-depth exploration or precise cartographic documentation at the time of their naming. These terrae incognitae functioned as places of longing.
In Christian Achenbach’s (*1978 in Siegen) new series of works, similar places of longing emerge. They are like promises of a new world: alien and unexplored. While Achenbach’s earlier works are characterized by a clear departure from a central motif, where geometric forms and symbols merge into arrangements influenced by Surrealism and Cubism, his abstract landscapes offer spaces for identification without dictating an immediate narrative. Despite the new content, Achenbach remains true to his visual language and design vocabulary, continuously experimenting with various 20th-century art movements such as Expressionism, Constructivism, Pop Art, and Op Art. Achenbach’s hill landscapes, with their otherworldly-sounding titles like Samora, Arenco, or Arlopaz, also reference early Chinese landscape painting of the Tang and Song dynasties, which intended not only to depict external nature but also to convey emotions and spiritual dimensions, providing viewers with a space for reflection.
One finds in “Terra Incognita” the auditory, rhythmic quality that is so intrinsic to Achenbach’s work. The towering hills recall frequencies, sound waves that accentuate the characteristic sound of his aesthetic with their ecstatic color palette. Coming from music himself, Achenbach stages his painting as a visual and acoustic duet that can appeal to the viewer on a multisensory level. A symbiosis of image and sound: “I try to make my paintings sound. It’s something intuitive. I hear the colors.”
Hannah-Louisa Hochbaum
Opening on Thursday November 23, at 6 pm
November 24 – January 20, 2024
Tue – Sat, 2 pm – 6 pm
Eberswalder Str. 30, 10437 Berlin – Germany