Lothar Hempel
Das goldene Dreieck (Golden Triangle), 2003
Acrylic on Paper
143.5 x 42 cm
Lothar Hempel
Kindl, 2003
Acrylic on Paper
119 x 42cm
Lothar Hempel
Kreuzberg Nacht (Kreuzberg Night), 2003
Acrylic on Paper
89 x 21cm
Lothar Hempel
Jason, 2003
Acrylic on paper
125 x 30 cm
Lothar Hempel
Medea, 2003
Acrylic on paper
126 x 30cm
Lothar Hempel
Richard Wright, 2003
Acrylic on paper
89 x 21cm
Through a simplified and stylistic form of painting, Hempel creates a sense of a theatrical charade. His figures are suggested as impostors, knowing hypocrites or deceptive pawns of unseen and elaborate fictions. Hempel uses painting as a tool of illusion. His dream-like and surreal forms don’t pretend a reality, but constantly reinforce their staged-ness. Reminiscent of Bertolt Brecht’s ‘epic theatre’, Hempel’s formalist compositions and puppet-like figures don’t provoke emotional engagement, but rather the viewer’s detached critical reaction to the presented narrative. In portraits such as Richard Wright, Hempel sets up scenes of plausible mystery and adventure as analogies of the viewer’s self-reflection and moral judgement.
Lothar Hempel
Morning Rain, 2005
Mixed media, butterfly
168 x 109 x 107 cm
Lothar Hempel
Butterfly, 2005
Oil on canvas
200 x 100 cm