Wolfgang Hambrecht - Ghost Ranch
From mid-April to the end of May 2012, the agency & aga Galerie in Bonn and the Denkraum Siegburg will present new works by Düsseldorf painter Wolfgang Hambrecht under the title "Ghost Ranch." The exhibition will be inaugurated on April 13, 2012, at Denkraum Siegburg by Prof. Dr. Stephan Berg.
Wolfgang Hambrecht has taught as a professor of painting in Stuttgart and Essen, and since 2011, he has been a guest lecturer at the Kunstakademie Münster. He has received several awards, including the prestigious Villa-Romana-Preis.
In his new works, Wolfgang Hambrecht depicts abandoned places filled with leftover necessities, empty interiors, and human dwellings: caravans, huts, and strange futuristic architectural solutions. The title piece, "Dreamland," shows the entrance to a closed amusement park with a ticket booth. Visitors and staff are absent. Empty streets contrast with the vibrant blue of the sky. The arsonist in "The Arsonist" is difficult to locate within the image; at the edge of the forest stands his open caravan, complete with a tent and garden chairs. The artworks provide glimpses into areas and living spaces that can be found somewhere out there, familiar yet strangely foreign. Most often, these scenes could be taking place in distant lands or in places where we are not currently present. They evoke a sense of mystery and invitation on one hand, while on the other, they convey abandonment and unreality, always conjuring feelings of solitude. Themes of intimacy and alienation are explored in Hambrecht's paintings, reflecting the progression of our civilization through the flow of time, which propels humanity into an unforeseen, mysterious future.
The free, broad brushstrokes of his oil paintings draw the viewer into spatial worlds and the discrepancy of a constructed reality.
What is particularly intriguing is the transparency of the images, reminiscent of a screen image. It is not the motif that becomes the subject, but its representation. Indeed, photographs serve as templates for the artist's paintings. They are snapshots of bizarre situations and spaces that have inspired and motivated the artist's creative process.
The exhibition Wolfgang Hambrecht – "Ghost Ranch" will be on view from April 14 to May 4, 2012, at Denkraum Siegburg, and "Ghost Ranch II" will be displayed from April 16 to May 31, 2012, at the agency & aga Galerie in Bonn.