Irmi Obermeyer’s abstract works operate at the interface between experiment and reflection. She does not see her painting as a fixed form, but as an open field in which the boundaries of the medium are constantly being explored anew. With curiosity, she examines the effect of pigments on different surfaces – be it wood, canvas or Aludibond – and tests how color unfolds in relation to primers and layers. Her unmistakable brushstroke remains intact, lending the paintings a rhythmic, almost physical style.
In terms of content, Obermeyer draws on impressions from everyday life, which she transforms into paintings. Her experiments translate the seemingly ordinary into an abstract language that opens up new perspectives. Her work questions not only the appearance of painting, but also its inner logic: How does color behave in space? How does its expressiveness change depending on the material, plane or incidence of light?
This open, exploratory approach also refers to a long art-historical tradition. Time and again, it was radical reinvention that gave painting fresh impetus – be it through the abandonment of mimesis in the Renaissance, the liberation of color in Impressionism or the dissolution of form in Modernism. Obermeyer’s work ties in with this idea of constant renewal by understanding painting not as a closed practice, but as a dynamic field that only remains alive through experimentation.
This results in paintings that are both process and result – an expression of an artistic attitude that curiously asks how painting can be conceived and experienced today.