Jochen Görlach - DIE GEGENSEITE

We warmly invite you and your friends to our Frankfurt gallery for the opening with the artist on Saturday, March 21 at 2 PM.

The initial reaction to this painting is unanimous: masterly. Indeed, Jochen Görlach's works benefit from a deep engagement with Baroque painting. He is particularly fascinated by the chiaroscuro established by Caravaggio.

The obscure forms both the thematic and conceptual foundation of Görlach's works. His predominantly youthful figures, mostly acting alone and rarely in groups, emerge from the darkness like the numbers of an imaginary realm; stripped of all context, they allow the viewer to categorize them solely based on their personal attributes and attitudes.

These appearances, seemingly emerging from nowhere, evoke a considerable pathos. The artist enjoys amplifying it further—there are mentions of "the other side," a "pharmacist," and "blood brothers"—and then resolves it, just before it becomes unbearable, with cleverly placed banalities. The beauty in the night carries a roll of paper...

After a guest semester at the Ècole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Jochen Görlach (*1970 in Reutlingen) turned to painting from a very practical perspective—he trained as a restorer. During this time, he became acquainted with the intricacies of glazing techniques.

He now employs these techniques in his paintings, placing special emphasis on the finest nuances of flesh tones.