Michel Majerus' Progressive Aesthetics: Diskurs, Duktus und plurikulturelle Einflüsse im Spiegel der Kunstrezensionen

Book published by Editions Saint Paul - 1. ed (2013)

About the work of Michel Majerus' curators, museum managers, leaders of art institutions and critics have written a lot of reviews or essays concerning the numerous exhibitions. They were published in ... [more ▼]

About the work of Michel Majerus' curators, museum managers, leaders of art institutions and critics have written a lot of reviews or essays concerning the numerous exhibitions. They were published in catalogues, magazines and newspapers. To find new aspects of Majerus’ artwork, the start is taken from the already mentioned stock of data material. The treatise makes somehow a synthesis in associating or confronting like samples, many of the above-mentioned sources, in order to obtain fresh insights. Cross-linked with new interpretations of certain works and additional information gathered in firsthand interviews with people that knew Majerus during his lifetime, the dissertation allows to outline more evidently the artist’s discourse and the specific qualities of his oeuvre. The art-historical relevance of Majerus around the turn of the millennium gets clearly delimited. The research distinctly features the new, the unexpected, the originality and the singularity of Michel Majerus' approach and permits to outline the importance of the artist for his time and beyond. [less ▲]

NOTHING IS PERMANENT: MICHEL MAJERUS

Article for general public (2010)

Condensed overview and analysis of artist Michel Majerus´ life work.

Zur Legitimierung des Kunstunterrichts

in Ahlborn, Martine; Bourg, Viviane; Dell, Paul (Eds.) et al Tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir sur l’éducation artistique… (2005)

In a school context where visual arts tend to disappear in order to make place for lessons in math, science and language, the essay states that even if there are researches that prove favorable transfers ... [more ▼]

In a school context where visual arts tend to disappear in order to make place for lessons in math, science and language, the essay states that even if there are researches that prove favorable transfers from art teaching on the before mentioned branches, learning to express oneself in pictorial arts is a value in itself. Visual arts do not need to be repeatedly legitimated in school curricula because its benefic pedagogical action on general culture knowledge and competencies is evident. [less ▲]

Réminiscences des maîtres anciens et éléments modernes dans le réalisme de Claudio Bravo

Bachelor/master dissertation (1984)

At the beginning of his career, Claudio Bravo became known as a portraitist of the jet set people. Yet, to reduce him on these activities would not do justice to him. In fact, he was a neo-realistic ... [more ▼]

At the beginning of his career, Claudio Bravo became known as a portraitist of the jet set people. Yet, to reduce him on these activities would not do justice to him. In fact, he was a neo-realistic painter with many facets. His trompe-l’oeil paintings showed that Bravo was fascinated by form and texture of the represented characters or objects. The artist tried in same way to give the signs of reality a metaphysical presence: Conceptually significance should go beyond their outward appearance. Just as his technique, his paintings become statements of perfection. Compared to his contemporary mainstream fellows, his approach was somehow an anachronism. He borrowed iconographic content or image composition from famous artist of the past such as Rafael, Caravaggio, Velasquez, Titian or Manet, in order to transform the appropriations with his hyper-realistic technique into a modern version, stating a touch of timelessness, due to the sobriety of the decoration and time neutral garment of the protagonists. He had also formal affinities to photo- or hyper-realistic US-painters of the 1960s such as Estes, Close and Goings or even the American illustrator Rockwell. His package wrapped subject paintings were obviously inspired by the smaller cloth enveloped and tied up objects of an early Christo. Pop artists gave also inspiration with their representation of banal consumer objects. However, Bravo did not share the message of the pop artists, who were critical time spirit oriented reporters of popular consuming routines in a society that was switching more and more to futility and sometimes vulgar communication. This lack of a deeper message, going beyond celebrating the aesthetics of super-realistic representation, was pointed out by many art critics, committed to a more contemporary view on art. When Bravo painted a pop icon like a Coca-Cola bottle or a moto-sport helmet, his inherent interest focused on the fidelity to the outward appearance and conceptually on a metaphysical sublimation of its mere physical presence. The research deals with the above mentioned questions and discusses whether the approach of Bravo was simple epigonism or an authentic renewal of realistic painting. [less ▲]