Olaf Quantius

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Olaf Quantius

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The paradox of space as a “whole” and as “emptiness” permeates Olaf Quantius’ entire oeuvre. In this “whole”, coordinates serving orientation exist, and in between there is an “emptiness” in which everything seems possible and yet everything is indeterminate. In Olaf Quantius’ painting, opposites such as representation and autonomy, foreground and background, presence and dissolution, diffusion and exactness literally “fall in one”. The connection between abstract painting and the illusion of abstract painting is a characteristic feature. “Spots” or broad “brushstrokes” are not the result of spontaneous gestures, but precisely placed by means of masking or painted in an illusionistic manner. Drips allude to “automatic painting” although they are precisely controlled, and parts of the picture illustrate the proverbial “impression of abstract painting” through the tongue-in-cheek use of the splash technique.

Olaf Quantius’ (DE 1971) works have been shown at international exhibitions. The Saarlandmuseum already dedicated a solo show to him in 2010, and recently the Kunstverein Pforzheim. His works have been on view in group exhibitions at, among others, the Kunsthaus Baselland, the Marta Herford Museum, the Lewis Glucksman Gallery University College, Cork, and the Wilhelm-Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen. Olaf Quantius is currently visiting professor at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg.