Edward Bekkerman "Labyrinths of Love"
at the Osthaus Museum Hagen
September 17, 2022 - January 15, 2023
Excerpt
The works of the American artist Edward Bekkerman are impressive. The artist leaves traces in various sequences of images that sometimes pose a mystery. At the same time, it is these enigmatic pictorial achievements that stimulate us to engage intensively, even prompting a discussion, so to speak. In our exhibition you can see important contributions from almost all photo series of the last few years, which are indeed unparalleled.
The title "Labyrinths of Love", on which this exhibition is based, may generally apply to the pictorial program for Bekkermann's art. His imagery is characterized by personal symbolism as well as universal motifs. His angel figures invite you to treat them tenderly, to love them and do them good. Sometimes we look at faces as if they want to enter into a dialogue with us. On the other hand, they are also very busy with themselves.
The labyrinthine is extremely emphasized in the two series "Victories" and "Spirit & Dreams". While the former provides a glimpse into a kind of round labyrinth, the essence of such a maze is more complex in the latter. It is obviously difficult to escape from here, since all the abstract beings are so closely intertwined that one must have Ariadne's thread to get out safely, taking up the Greek myth. In these works we see at the same time a coupling of humans and animals, sometimes also beings that appear to be extraterrestrial. Apparently the unfathomable determines the essence of these pictures. In this respect, Labyrinth is not only a pictorially correct title in terms of production aesthetics, but also in terms of its reception by us viewers. The labyrinth is our symbolic destiny, it is our test, ultimately our secret. Our cultural history has known the tradition of the labyrinth for 5000 years.
Based on a very personal style, Bekkermann's works show us a painting that is very differentiated and refined. In the “Hats” series alone, these hats sitting on the heads of the sitters are unassailable examples of a glowing color. No hat resembles the other, no application of paint is repeated, the hats are made to shine through colors and an inner light - there are few examples in the history of art of this sophisticated way of coloring this headdress.
