Claudia Larissa Artz – River and other panel paintings

The work of the painter Claudia Larissa Artz is a constant development from what is seen and what is within. In Quartier am Hafen, she presented selected works from the last five years with the exhibition “River and other panel paintings.” In her current works, she refers to her place of residence, Cologne.

For the “River” series, the artist, who studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and is a master student of Helmut Federle, observed the color change of the Rhine for an entire annual cycle. She transferred these colors to 100 sheets, which are a composition of countless layers of self-rubbed color pigments. The ever-changing river stands for the continuity of change, because the great theme of Claudia

Larissa Artz is growth. The series of her large-format paintings , which was current in May 2012, bore the fitting title “Saltus.” Expressive forms and colors, which are enhanced by the type of brushstroke, allow the viewer to choose which section of the picture he wants to concentrate on, because there is no beginning and no end, no center and no periphery.
“Saltus” shows growth, but also that every jump can lead into the void – failure is possible.

Claudia Larissa Artz does not want to depict personal fate in her pictures, but rather find a universally valid form that expresses powerlessness, fear and joy.