Andy Denzler

Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Indian Red Mountain Girl by Andy Denzler presents an intriguing example of the artist’s exceptional and recognizable method of painting. It appears to be figural at first, when looking at it from a distance. Approaching the canvas closer, the figural elements begin to blur, and the work looks like it is abstract with its’ linear colour-fields of olive, mustard and grey.  Andy Denzler’s early oeuvre consisted of abstract paintings and subsequently lead him to his current interest in figural painting. The artist draws his designs from photography, but in his executions, he remains entirely in the medium of paintings.

He applies the oil paint wet on wet in thick layers of heavy impasto with broad brush strokes. His trademark is distortion, which he achieves by blurring the wet paint of the original almost photorealistic image in a horizontal motion, removing material from the canvas using a palette knife. With this process the artist builds dynamism and volume to his works; colour and form fuse in specific horizontal movements resulting in a distorted form of a classic oil painting. It seems as if the artist has pressed the fast-forward or pause button on a VCR, causing the reality to stop for a moment. Although Denzler’s figuration builds a realistic foundation within his images, it is indeed up to the viewer’s imagination to redefine it.