Flight, desolation and displacement are deeply inscribed in the work of Hans Josephsohn (1920–2012). Not in terms of motifs or themes, but as a fundamental life experience. Unlike the smooth, gracefully fluid agility of Lehmbruck or Maillol, who inspired him in his youth, and unlike Giacometti’s fraying dissolution of the figure in the glistening backlight of an atomic flash, for instance, Josephsohn clings firmly to the figure. Every grasp of the shapeless plaster solidifies the human
Three monumental paintings and four accompanying watercolors by André Butzer will be the subject of a solo exhibition at the Kunstverein Friedrichshafen. The exhibition’s title references a famous German folk song which dates back to the 17th century. Throughout the centuries, writers and musicians alike have adopted the song to various ends — the latest being the atrocities of the Second World War, Paul Celan’ desperate, yet tiny sheaves of hope and a long past journey by the artist to
