Movement determines Bernhard Paul’s works – be it the vertical or horizontal direction of a line, the visible dynamics of a brushstroke or the implicit movement of a musician and his conducting. The exhibition left_right_up_down explores the reciprocal relationship between abstract painting and New Music and poses the question: To what extent can musical structures and concepts be captured in pictorial form?
With the prelude series and a new series of works, Bernhard Paul draws on the analytical inspiration of composition. The rhythmic, overlapping structures of his works take up principles of musical form and make movement visible as a central motif. The conductor is emphasized as an essential figure – he leads the musicians, directs their entries and structures the sound space. This role can be compared to that of the artist: Paul orchestrates the colors, brings them into a certain system on the canvas and thus creates a compositional harmony in the painting.
With her musical approach, Zeena Parkins, renowned harpist and patron of the series, stands for an experimental exploration of sound spaces. Her work Double Dupe Down – the “double deception” – becomes a metaphor for the visual effect of the exhibition: three-dimensional structures that create spatiality through color gradients and overlays and set the viewer’s eye in motion.
In his works, Bernhard Paul combines the logic of composition with the intuition of painting – a dialog between seeing and hearing, between structure and sensation, between art and music.