The poetry of structures
Reiner Seliger’s art is a virtuoso recycling of natural materials and everyday materials that have been discarded by industry as rubble or debris. This results in spectacular new forms and reliefs. Fragments and splinters form structures that constantly change in the interplay of color, light and shadow.
As a child of the post-war period in destroyed Düsseldorf, Reiner Seliger discovered the aesthetics of mountains of rubble and the magic of broken materials. His playful reuse of these materials is reflected today in his grandiose architectural works made of broken bricks or marble, which he layers to form spindle-like towers and spheres. In an almost magical way, the large buildings with their natural materials and shapes blend into their surroundings and form new landscape markers.
“Every material holds a secret. You have to handle it with care,” explains Reiner Seliger in an interview. His spheres, subtly studded with sharp-edged shards of glass, or transparent steles up to two meters high, refract the light in a variety of ways – in stark contrast to the matt surfaces of the terracotta quarry. Their colors change with the viewer’s perspective and seem to react to the viewer’s movement in the room.
The material chalk plays a special role in Reiner Seliger’s oeuvre. Fascinated by its characteristically velvety consistency and color-intensive presence, Reiner Seliger composes wall installations with special spatial depth from pieces of chalk of different lengths and widths, cut or broken.
Close together – sometimes like a multi-layered mosaic, sometimes like a stringent sequence: “It is the rhythm, the poetry of the material that repeatedly invites the creative process. The creative and aesthetic possibilities are inexhaustible,” says Reiner Seliger.
On the occasion of Reiner Seliger’s 80th birthday, Galerie Kellermann is dedicating a comprehensive anniversary exhibition to the artist with sculptures and wall objects from the most recent museum exhibitions in the Flottmann-Hallen in Herne and the Museum Art.Plus in Donaueschingen.
We cordially invite you to discover the surprising diversity and delicate poetry of these works.
Galerie Kellermann
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