Renate Krammer – Linien

Description

When the point is considered as the first movement on the way to the line - as Kandinsky did - the gallery. Z with Renate Krammer has achieved a pinpoint landing. The artist, who lives and works in Graz, has been exclusively dealing with the line for about 20 years. To be precise: with the horizontal, straight line. "Renate Krammer-Linien" is accordingly a coherent title for the exhibition. Now one could speculate whether the artist has already exhausted herself with this extreme focus. Or wonder how long she wants to hold on to it. Her answer is as surprising as it is unequivocal: "For me, engaging with the line - as an elementary means of artistic design - is a challenge, because reducing to the line in its pure, original state does not create limitations but unlimited forms - and expressive possibilities." The line as a formal and substantive basis.

Renate Krammer's path to this striking realization was by no means linear. She started her artistic career only after following a strong recommendation from her parents to study business administration and economics education. After years of working as a tax advisor and teacher, she decided to realize her original dream of becoming a painter. Instead of attending the academy in Vienna in adulthood - which she found unsuitable - she acquired her knowledge through various courses. The artist and art theorist Paul Rotterdam, who introduced her to minimalism, proved particularly influential.

Through a deeper engagement with the subject, she became convinced that her intended departure from representational art through painting could not succeed. She considered drawing suitable for this purpose. And drawing, as is well known, begins with a point. Set in motion, it results in a line. Reduced to point and line.

Since then, the horizontal line has been the main actor in Renate Krammer's diverse oeuvre and not a secondary element that aims to depict another element (an object). Instead of achieving the intended formlessness, she opened up a new universe of forms. Although, or rather because, the artist frees the line from representation and uses it in its absoluteness, she creates her own universe. Everything seems to be able to be expressed with horizontal lines. With relatively simple means - mainly pencils and paper - the artist creates a multifaceted work. She draws the lines arranged in rows entirely freehand, influencing their density, rhythm, pressure, and strength. The motor skills of the hand, fingers, and arm movement significantly determine the ductus, which ensures the liveliness of the works. Deliberately placed irregularities such as abrupt interruptions, gaps, recesses, or empty spaces enhance this effect. The experimental Carinthian also achieves spatial illusions with skillfully placed overlays.

Impressive variance.

It is clear that for her, the process of creation is as important as the result. A special approach is required, she notes. Besides her own mood, she cites objective facts such as different pencil strengths or the texture of the paper (structured or smooth) as factors that can produce significant differences. She believes one must be open to this. Considering her perseverance and consistent exploration of the possibilities of the horizontal line, it is no surprise that she regards maximum reduction as an almost inexhaustible source of inspiration.

The number of sheets filled with bold, delicate, light, dark, long, short, interrupted, or continuous strokes testifies to this. The saying of the Roman scholar Pliny - noted in Paul Klee's oeuvre catalog - applies exactly to Renate Krammer's working method: "Nulla dies sine linea - no day without a line." As if the variety of drawings with freehand drawn lines were not already overwhelming enough, the artist further explores the possibilities of line and paper. In the next step, she materializes the line by tearing mulberry paper into strips. She glues the resulting paper lines layer by layer onto drawing paper or stacks them tightly in acrylic boxes. The resulting line images can be classified as graphic works. On the other hand, they also meet the definition of an object. The potential of focusing on the horizontal line has certainly not been exhausted by Renate Krammer. We can look forward to her upcoming projects. "Renate Krammer - Linien": An impressive example of how maximum variance can arise from sparse vocabulary and extreme reduction.

Highlights

• Exhibition by Renate Krammer
• Focus on the horizontal, straight line
• 20 years of artistic engagement

General Information

The exhibition "Linien" by Renate Krammer showcases the artist, who has been working with the line for two decades. She examines the line as an elementary means of artistic design and offers new perspectives on its reduction.

Location

Landstrasse 11, 6971 Hard, Austria

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