.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Franz Ackermann, born in 1963 in a small Bavarian village called Neumarkt St. Veit, has spent the last decade and a half as a nomad, traveling around the world actively seeking out the exotic and the new. Primarily concerned, however, with the rapid globalization and commodification of our ever-shrinking world, Ackermann's oeuvre represents a sort of travelogue; recording his impressions and reactions to the locations he visits.
His travels, which began in the early 1990s, have taken him to Asia, the Middle East, and South America. To a young artist from a small isolated town in Bavaria, all of these locations could be seen as exotic destinations where a sense of excitement and adventure plays off the discomfort and isolation felt in a completely alien environment. Ackermann pays close attention to the relationship between the individual and the masses, the constant fluctuation of the economies and cultural fortunes of cities, the homogenization of the High Street, the endemic banality of 'standardised' architectural developments for office and home and the negative impact of mass tourism on local cultures.
Ackermann's Mental Maps, which he produces during his travels, while on location, reflect his experience of the place, both emotionally and geographically. Once back in the studio, Ackermann transposes these works onto much larger canvases, using expressive lines, bright areas of colour and high-impact, pop graphics. Just as a tourist would start at a city centre and work his way outwards, Ackermann in his work progresses concentrically outwards until he reaches the fringe.
The present lot, New Building from 1999, depicts a brightly coloured island landscape with a 21st century high rise structure bursting from the peaceful and isolated backdrop. At the centre of the work Ackermann shows us a small concentrated area of simple hut-like dwellings along the beach, signifying a more simple way of life relatively untouched by the modern world. The massive industrial structure rising from the heart of the composition is illustrative of the invasiveness of the global expansion and commodification that Ackermann is so interested in.
His travels, which began in the early 1990s, have taken him to Asia, the Middle East, and South America. To a young artist from a small isolated town in Bavaria, all of these locations could be seen as exotic destinations where a sense of excitement and adventure plays off the discomfort and isolation felt in a completely alien environment. Ackermann pays close attention to the relationship between the individual and the masses, the constant fluctuation of the economies and cultural fortunes of cities, the homogenization of the High Street, the endemic banality of 'standardised' architectural developments for office and home and the negative impact of mass tourism on local cultures.
Ackermann's Mental Maps, which he produces during his travels, while on location, reflect his experience of the place, both emotionally and geographically. Once back in the studio, Ackermann transposes these works onto much larger canvases, using expressive lines, bright areas of colour and high-impact, pop graphics. Just as a tourist would start at a city centre and work his way outwards, Ackermann in his work progresses concentrically outwards until he reaches the fringe.
The present lot, New Building from 1999, depicts a brightly coloured island landscape with a 21st century high rise structure bursting from the peaceful and isolated backdrop. At the centre of the work Ackermann shows us a small concentrated area of simple hut-like dwellings along the beach, signifying a more simple way of life relatively untouched by the modern world. The massive industrial structure rising from the heart of the composition is illustrative of the invasiveness of the global expansion and commodification that Ackermann is so interested in.