GERNOT KISSEL Er selbst
Remarks by Prof. Dr. Helge Bathelt MA
translated from the Book, “GERNOT KISSEL himself”
Even if Gernot Kissel is influenced by the paint application from artists such as Alexej Jawlensky, or the model as a subject like Toulouse Lautrec, this does not make him eclectic at all. An art movement can never be completed as long as an artist such as Kissel can add something of his own to it.
A look into art history teaches us that the capacity of an art movement can never be exhausted by a few generations. This fact has not been silenced by the modern era with their technical advances, instead, it has never left our consciousness.
A major art movement is never transitory, it carries on developing as artists from the past have proven, such as Carracci and Caravaggio. Kissel admits to be dedicated to absolute painting; the dominance of colour, the bold outlines to the highly sensual application of colour. He puts his thumb into the paint that his distant brush or palette knife cannot reach, to transfer a pair of lips from sketch to canvas.
A further characteristic of his painting style is his love for intense and complimentary colour contrasts. He drapes his paintings in a red glow which he often uses as a base coat thus personifying the sensuality of the skin tone. He uses multi colour within a confined space, the physiognomies, demanding a special attention from the observer.
Besides the dramatic red ground, Kissel also uses a more limited palette. Bare and tonally fair skinned bodies pose defiantly and correctly, calmly standing proud against the “back to nature” tradition. Green-white flowers or a southern far away land, in the background, stimulate our imagination.
Kissel generates with soft toning, shadows and transparent colouring the body volume, conveying a very natural tangible quality. The foreground and background intertwine never losing the high
quality of pure art.
In times when the leading Impressionists and Expressionists exhibitions are still attracting the millions, an artist such as Kissel deserves to attract special attention.
Obviously interest in such a style exists in countries with an unbroken tradition of art for example like France, The Netherlands and England, where artists have not been restrained or confined to illustrating the ideology of the state.
G Kissel is, taking into account the described methods, a brilliant painter of still lifes, flowers and landscapes too. He combines a painterly handling and ambience to all his subjects, using the minimalism of classical modernism, building a bridge to the late 20th Century, proving, how much strength can be achieved through continuity throughout such times of change. Maybe this is the reason why even ardent representatives of the Informal Abstract Expressionism or the Cutting Edge, are touched by Kissel’s work and pay him high respect.
How else could it be, when we meet an art form, which is so well executed with reflecting self understanding, as Gernot Kissel’s new paintings. The tension in these works are intensified more than ever. So too, the use of the expression of the palette knife which almost serves as a medium itself. In any case “a Kissel” should not be absent from an art museum collection of the 19th, 20th and 21st century.
Exhibitions
1987 – 89
Palais Fanton, Vienna, Austria
Galerie Bad Schinznach, Switzerland
National Representation Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bonn, Germany
Galerie Gottschick, Tubingen, Germany
Tantris – Galerie Gunzenhauser, Munich, Germany
Zum alten Amtshauskeller Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Trubahus-Galerie, Azmoos, Switzerland
Galerie Zielke, Neumunster, Germany
1990 – 91
Schloss Ettlingen, Germany
Galerie Maihof, Schwyz, Switzerland
1992 – 95
ART 1992, Basel, Switzerland
Galerie Trotte, Niederweningen, Switzerland
Vita Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
Galerie L’oeil-soleil, Cliousclat-Drome, France
Altes Kunsthaus, Zug, Switzerland
Galerie Avantgarde, Mannheim, Germany
Galerie Aurora, Zurich, Switzerland
Galerie Theisen-Hayduck, Wuppertal, Germany
Artifides-Galerie, Lucerne, Switzerland
1996
ART 1996, London, Islington, UK
Galerie Saint Vincent, Lyon, France
Orange Tree Theatre, Attenborough Room, Richmond, UK
Henley Royal Regatta Festival ’96, Henley, UK
1997
ART 1997, London, Islington, UK
AIR Gallery, Dover Street, London, UK
Piano Nobile Fine Paintings, Richmond and HollandPark, London, UK
ANIMALS IN ART, London, Brighton, Preston, UK
Galerie L’oeil Soleil, Cliousclat-Drome, France
1998
ART 1998, London, Islington, UK
Theatre Worms, Worms, Germany
1998
Galerie Saint Vincent, Lyon, France
Joerg Hasenbach & H D B Fine Arts, Antwerp, NL
AKKA Galerie, rue de Seine, Paris, France
Galerie Gottschick, Tubingen, Germany
1999
Bloxham Galleries, Happy Valentine, London, UK
Piano Nobile Fine Paintings, Richmond, UK
2000
Galerie Schortgen, Luxembourg, LUX
Kunsthandel P. Denijs, Den Haag, NL
2001
Galerie Gottschick, Tubingen, Germany
Galerie Kunst-Schaefer, Wiesbaden, Germany
Piano Nobile Fine Paintings, Richmond and HollandPark, London, UK
2002
Galerie Aktuaryus, Strasbourg, France
Galerie Artwork, Speyer, Germany
Kunstforum Altripp e.v., Altripp, Germany
2003
Galerie Gottschick, Tubingen, Germany
Galerie Severin Maly, Paris, France
Galerie Artwork, Speyer, Germany
2004
Galerie L’oeil Soleil, Cliousclat-Drome, France
Galerie Schortgen, Luxembourg, LUX
Galerie F.G. Conzen, Duesseldorf, Germany
The Richmond Hill Gallery, Richmond, UK
Galerie de l’Ecusson, Montpellier, France
Galerie Kunst-Schaefer, Wiesbaden, Germany
Kunsthandel Fuchs, Fulda, Germany
The Richmond Hill Gallery, Richmond, UK
The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle, UK
2006
Galerie Delfi-Form, Zwolle, NL
The Richmond Hill Gallery, Richmond, UK
Kunstverein Feuerbach-Haus, Speyer, Germany
Galerie Artwork, Speyer, Germany
Galerie Raeber, Zurich, Switzerland