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Into the light
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German artist Hanspeter Münch’s colours respond to natural light
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Chiaroscuro The artist prefers to stay in Italy for the diffused Mediterranean light
For German artist Hanspeter Münch there was never a better time to enter the Indian art scene than today. The economic growth and the boom in the Indian art market has got the 68 year-old Münch to make inroads here. At the moment, Münch is displaying his 14 art works at Nolte art gallery in Bangalore. He is in talks with Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath to have a show in the gallery and also conduct workshops. “It’s a good time to come to India. The economy is growing. More people are buying art and investing in it,” says Münch who has painted a huge (over 6 metres in length) canvas for a private home in Bangalore.
Münch’s canvases combine European art traditions of French decorative style and the volume of Roman paintings. Which is why unlike European paintings, his paintings aren’t flat. To give volume to his work, he paints as many as 60 layers on canvas. And the magic is that you can’t tell.
“It’s a technique. For instance, I will make several hues of yellow and keep painting one over the other. My colours respond to natural light. Juxtaposing warm and cold colours also accentuates the volume. As the day progresses, the colours keep changing,” says the artist.
Natural light plays an important role in his works. The German artist also has a home in Italy and stays there more often than in Germany so that he can paint in Italy’s “diffused Mediterranean light.” The artist always paints with music on.
In the ongoing exhibition, though he has done acrylics on paper the effect is of water-colours. In the abstract works, a melee of colours like blue, orange, green and others in free-hand strokes evoke harmony. Though there are no definite shapes, the viewer can easily make out that nature inspires him a great deal.
In this show, Münch has painted “Indian Lotus” in his own style for which he “imagined Lotus from Indian God Shiva’s paradise”. “The ancient Indian decorative paintings are very interesting. I feel, there is a parallel between illusion of depth created by colours in those works and my art,” says Münch who doesn’t paint his canvas on easel but on the floor.
Münch also paints directly on wood. “Before canvases came, people used to paint on wood directly, especially in Gothic churches. I would want to teach students to how to paint on wood.”In Germany, his art can be seen on the ceilings, walls and entrances of important structures. Clearly, Münch knows no boundaries.
(Hanspeter Munch’s art show Volume of Colours is on at Nolte Home Studio, Koramangala till June 30. For more info visit - www.hanspeter.muench.malerei.de)
SHAILAJA TRIPATHI TANEJA
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