Daniel Behrendt

Daniel Behrendt

Daniel Behrendt’s architectural painting is characterised by a distinctive intensity.His main focus lies in illustrating urban landscapes. These do not serve as portraits of geographical locations, but rather to sketch out milieus and capture specific moods and atmospheres.For his paintings, Behrendt collects impressions and photographic snapshots on his wanderings through urban environments. He writes: "It is astonishing in which hidden corners one discovers concrete cubes – mostly brutally and mercilessly plonked there. Who lives in such a place, what does that life look like, and what parallels can be drawn from it for society at large?" The subjects depicted in Behrendt’s works are intended to emerge clearly from the oil paint itself. By building up layers – a process which, amongst other things, causes the texture of the canvas to recede into the background – the materiality of the work is brought to the fore.

“I believe in a certain power that emanates from colour and helps what we see to become tangible.”

However austere his images may appear at first glance, they create a striking presence. He finds dignity and mystery in what the observer regards as the unpretentious and soulless architecture of the present day. The wall, the plaster, the pigments, the window, the projection – their physical presence is striking, entirely devoid of allusion or pretence.In a recent series of works on paper, created specifically for the exhibition, simple, geometric forms are staged centrally within the format.On display are shadowy circular formations in numerous variations, which captivate the viewer both through their sharp contours and, in contrast, through their appearance of dissolution. Precise form-giving contrasts with the organic structure of the impasto application of paint that dominates the paper. Simplicity, playfulness and a certain lightness are intended to be expressed in these works. The reduction in the painting, the tightrope walk between figuration and abstraction, are – as in Behrendt’s other works – constant features.

„The focus of my artistic practice lies in exploring the medium of oil paint. My works oscillate between abstraction and figuration, and between figuration and materiality.Alongside my representational approach to working in oil on canvas, with objects and installations, I am currently focusing increasingly on creating works on paper. This approach has its roots in my architectural painting and, in an even more reduced form, is dedicated to the pure materiality of oil paint and its support.“
Daniel Behrendt