Constantin Schroeder’s paintings encourage interpretation. The pictorial contents of his enigmatic, sometimes absurd, concise oil paintings imagine everyday life, visions or are reminiscent of film settings.
The Hamburg-born artist has been painting since early childhood. Out of philosophical interest, he studied theology, literature and art history. While this might already provide an abundance of pictorial themes that could be processed in painting, Constantin Schroeder seeks his own formulations on the pulse of time. At the centre of his works is the human being, from the modern hero to the lonely rambler or the fallen angel, the figures are depicted in an idealised manner, trying to find their way to identity in phantasmagoric scenarios. The white element, the omitted shape of an object recognisable only in outline, is found in many paintings. Schroeder’s “blank spaces” are participatory elements that involve the audience in the interpretation of the painting. These points of indeterminacy create a cognitive irritation in the viewer, while at the same time offering the possibility of subjectively concretising the content of the painting. They lend the paintings an astonishing visual appeal and underline the narrative pictorial content. As psychograms, they poetically illustrate fears and doubts that we ourselves know in different facets.
Further information can be found at constantinschroeder.de. The catalogue is published to accompany the exhibition of Constantin Schroeder at the Kunstverein Bad Nauheim, 16.07. – 29.08.2021.
Authorship: Dr. Antje Korsmeier, Constantin Schroeder