wolfgangdieterbauer

30/07/2022

Maybe the rabbit is here IV, 2010
Acrylics on canvas
78 7/10 × 59 1/10 × 1 3/5 in
200 × 150 × 4 cm

This piece is divided into several planes, perspectives, and settings. In the top half of the painting, a lady is having a drink. She is facing the viewer, but her sunglasses obscure her gaze, so she might be looking elsewhere. There are two more drinks on her deck chair, suggesting that others will be joining her. Behind her, there is a swimming pool, a blue expanse of ocean with rock and island formations, and an overcast sky. On the lower left of the canvas, there is a bright, well-lit aquarium. The lower right of the canvas shows a deck with chairs, a swimming pool, and a distant landscape on the horizon separated from the deck by the ocean. This part of the canvas shows a vibrant orange sky and a dark rabbit in a black suit and tie. The rabbit is a recurring figure of mystery, who appears in the works of Wolfgang Dieter Bauer. He is an unsettling figure, seen from a distance and observing intently. In this painting there is an implicit dialogue between the lady and the rabbit: they both look at the viewer, but through the viewer, they seem to be looking at each other.

30/07/2022

Maybe the rabbit is here IV, 2010
Acrylics on canvas
78 7/10 × 59 1/10 × 1 3/5 in
200 × 150 × 4 cm

This piece is divided into several planes, perspectives, and settings. In the top half of the painting, a lady is having a drink. She is facing the viewer, but her sunglasses obscure her gaze, so she might be looking elsewhere. There are two more drinks on her deck chair, suggesting that others will be joining her. Behind her, there is a swimming pool, a blue expanse of ocean with rock and island formations, and an overcast sky. On the lower left of the canvas, there is a bright, well-lit aquarium. The lower right of the canvas shows a deck with chairs, a swimming pool, and a distant landscape on the horizon separated from the deck by the ocean. This part of the canvas shows a vibrant orange sky and a dark rabbit in a black suit and tie. The rabbit is a recurring figure of mystery, who appears in the works of Wolfgang Dieter Bauer. He is an unsettling figure, seen from a distance and observing intently. In this painting there is an implicit dialogue between the lady and the rabbit: they both look at the viewer, but through the viewer, they seem to be looking at each other.

28/07/2022

26/07/2022

Untitled, 2006
Acrylics on canvas
70 9/10 × 47 1/5 × 1 3/5 in
180 × 120 × 4 cm
The stylized realism seen in this portrait by Wolfgang Dieter Bauer is characteristic of the painter’s body of work. The piece is detailed and spatially layered with light, shadow, and colour variation, but there is also an element of two-dimensionality in the perspective. Dieter-Bauer comfortably presents the flat surface of the canvas as it is: flat. This piece is part of the artist’s series ‘Mystery.’ There is a sense of tension created between the viewer and the subject of the painting. The woman in the piece and her immediate surroundings are obscured by the plant in the foreground and her face is partially obscured by the sunglasses she wears. In the background, there is a high stone wall, anonymising the setting of this piece. The woman appears to be looking into an open box, but this too is hidden from the viewer. Thus, Dieter Bauer leaves much to the viewer’s imagination.

21/07/2022

Art in focus:
I'm your new neighbour, 2007
Acrylics on canvas
35 2/5 × 35 2/5 × 1 3/5 in
90 × 90 × 4 cm

The title of this piece implies that the two women are meeting for the first time. There is a sense of formality in their body language and in their seating positions at the table; they are not yet familiar with each other. Although there are three people in this painting, it seems that there is only one subject: the woman in the green blouse. She is the only person in this scene whose facial expression is discernible to the viewer. Her look is stern and focused. She watches her interlocutor intently. The other woman and the waiter take on anonymous roles on this canvas, so the only information that the viewer can learn about the dialogue in this scene comes from the painting’s subject. It might even be said that the viewer experiences this scene from the perspective of the woman in the green blouse, who acts as the focal point on the canvas. This painting is from the series ‘Lumberton,’ in which Wolfgang Dieter Bauer examines the complex tensions between the real, the dreamt and the imagined, by highlighting moments where it becomes difficult to tell them apart.

18/07/2022

Where is my Smith and Wesson? III, 2010
Acrylic on canvas
35 2/5 × 47 1/5 × 1 3/5 in
90 × 120 × 4 cm
Sold
Presented in a seemingly filmic style, with its flat, wide perspective, the scene in this painting leaves room for much speculation. The immediate feeling created by this painting is one of serenity and calm. The background is conventionally picturesque and implies that the woman in the painting is on a retreat, taking some time away from the day-to-day. The flowers in the bath create imagery that is light and delicate, and the fact that the woman is bathing with her eyes covered creates a peculiar sense of vulnerability in this piece. It seems that the viewer is catching a very private moment. The Smith & Wesson revolver on the side table fits naturally in this context as if it were no different than a book or an ashtray; it is a passive object in the composition. Yet, the viewer is curious to know why the revolver fits so well into this scene, and what its purpose is. It is not clear who placed it there, within arm’s reach of the bathing woman, why, or whether it has already been used in this setting.

16/07/2022

Finding ear II, 2009
Acrylics on canvas
19 7/10 × 19 7/10 × 1 3/5 in
50 × 50 × 4 cm
Sold

From the series Lumberton,’ this piece portrays Kyle MacLachlan, a prominent figure in David Lynch’s filmography, as seen in the 1986 mystery thriller ‘Blue Velvet.’ This piece is imagined from a recognizable scene in ‘Blue Velvet,’ where MacLachlan’s character Jeffrey Beaumont finds a severed human ear in the grass, and stores it in a paper lunch bag to take it to the police. It is a moment where the mundane and the uncanny blend together seamlessly. In this piece, Beaumont is taken out of the context of the film set, and placed in the garden of the luxurious and picturesque rose-colored Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild on the Côte d’Azur. This creates another layer of contrast and juxtaposition; the setting is a space with a museum-like quality, made to be viewed and visually enjoyed, whilst the subject of the piece is hiding behind the garden plant, away from the direct attention of the viewer. The disharmony between the setting and the subject is fascinating and invites the one to look further in. 

10/07/2022

Solo exhibition Chelsea, London
‘Introducing Wolfgang Dieter Bauer'
28 JUNE - 30 JULY

30/06/2022