Volker Rossenbach - Birdland-Gambit

The Narrativism of Volker Rossenbach, between art-historical references and a penchant for interdisciplinary expression

There are paths of life and attitudes of some representatives of contemporary art that lead to the realization that the figurative approach does not necessarily have to be separated from the literary, philosophical, historical, and sociological approaches, so that they can unite to offer an unusual perspective precisely because of their ambiguity in terms of classification within a single field. Not only that: there are artists who add the utterly contemporary need to challenge themselves with less traditional, less orthodox means of expression—if one wants to describe them that way—that differ markedly from the resulting painting style and yet are incredibly harmonious and located in an already indispensable modernity. The protagonist of today is all of this and much more, for he draws on his deep knowledge of art history and literature and blends both, taking up the intuitions and theories of the avant-gardists of the 20th century.

In the first decades of the 20th century, cultural society had to witness, unwillingly, how all beliefs, certainties, and rules that had shaped art up to that point began to take on a desecrating, sarcastic, and polemical stance toward the art system of that time—a stance embodied by a movement called Dadaism, which originated in Switzerland but then spread to other European countries. Apart from the resulting visual representation, which rested on the ironic transformation of any object into a work of art, the innovative part was the introduction or rather the combination of other disciplines into the experimentation that authors such as Tristan Tzara, Hans Arp, and Marcel Duchamp regarded as decisive for the entire movement. Theater, photography, collage, and photomontage were the synergies anticipated by the Dadaists and later adopted by the Bauhaus, the great and revolutionary school of applied arts of the Weimar Republic in Germany, which did not merely rely on using the intuitions of its Swiss predecessors but decided to introduce many other techniques that could be connected with art, as had already been anticipated by another fundamental movement that had emerged shortly before, the Arts and Crafts. As times changed and society underwent a profound transformation, it became necessary for the director Walter Gropius to incorporate subjects such as architecture, theater, graphics, advertising, weaving, metalworking, and many other disciplines into the curriculum, which were considered crafts but stood in complete harmony with art in its highest and most comprehensive sense. Although Bauhaus formally oriented itself toward De Stijl, its path underscored the importance of merging different forms of expression, through which it was possible to connect and introduce those innovations that over the years and especially after the end of World War II began to take root. One of them was computer art, created by a mathematician and a philosopher, Ben Laposki and Manfred Frank, who used oscilloscopes to generate light waves in order to create indeterminate and abstract artistic lines; these experiments were only the beginning of a digital art that was initially hindered and regarded as a lesser form of expression, since it was accessible to everyone. Today it has, however, perfected itself and requires special craftsmanship. It finds numerous applications, from art to graphics and advertising to multimedia installations, especially for those artists who like to experiment and fuse different techniques, and has thus earned a place at the top of the contemporary art world. German artist Volker Rossenbach has had a professional career that continually brought him into contact with innovations, but also with his mental and cultural liveliness, thanks to which he has engaged not only with art but also with literature and history—areas that have always been interwoven with a classical, almost Renaissance-like pictorial language, yet one that uses digital technology. The endless possibilities that digital art now offers, and the need to return to a classical and traditional aesthetic—thus, in a sense, in contrast to the beginnings of its practical application—shape his visual style, which arises from a fusion of drawings and photographs enriched with filters and textures, then scanned and assembled into an image with Photoshop and Illustrator; which he then manually treats with acrylic paints, felt-tip pens, and chalk to give the work its final appearance. His latest works are inspired by motifs from international literature with strong narrative character, which he merges with quotes and references to masterworks of art history, with his ironic perspective and his interpretation connected to reflections on current issues not missing. It almost seems as if Volker Rossenbach wants to emphasize that the past, despite external differences, is not that far from the present after all. This may be the deeper meaning of the label he has chosen for his art, for his painting approach, which comes from the most current mixed technique, namely that of Narrativism, in which the artistic tradition studied over the years becomes the interpreter of references to philosophically-narrative thoughts by authors from around the world, provided they are in harmony with the moment of execution and at the same time refer to the sociological and personal observation of a world that seems to be running too fast to stop and behold the beauty of savoring the single moment. This train of thought runs through the work “Mystwelt” (Self-portrait on the Myst island), in which Volker Rossenbach positions himself with his back to the camera in a setting that resembles the famous work by the German Romantic Caspar David Friedrich entitled “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog”; Unlike the artist of the 19th century, the work here is however enriched with metaphysical details that symbolize that everything, even if clearly visible and not shrouded in a veil of fog, can still present an inexplicable secret unless one has the patience and will to stop and look deeper than surface perception. The jacket recalls the overlays of emptiness and fullness in René Magritte’s surrealist visions, while at the bottom right one can recognize one of Giorgio De Chirico’s figures; the work basically represents a synthesis of Volker Rossenbach’s life, a long journey through art history and the most fascinating literary works, from which Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s message in “The Little Prince” emerges, namely that what is essential is invisible to the eye. In the work “The Forest of Magical Beings” he combines the vivid beauty of nature with the presence of tropical animals such as parrots, toucans, and chameleons, and centers the image on a painter who, because of her ability to live with pain, but also because she has enduringly shaped 20th-century art history, is regarded as an almost supernatural heroine—of course I mean Frida Kahlo. Beside her, in a futuristic world, the author adds a kind of humanoid woman, a projection of what tomorrow’s human might look like in a context in which the vitality of nature perhaps wanes due to today’s humans’ lack of respect for it. The magic referred to by the title thus traverses time, breaks down boundaries, and enables a cross-cutting perspective that can serve as a warning to pay more attention to the future while always keeping the harmony and vitality of the past in view. “Siddhartha” has a double meaning: on the one hand it represents a visual synthesis by Volker Rossenbach of Hermann Hesse’s masterpiece to which the title refers, and on the other hand it expresses his deeper meaning, for which the little novel was famous at the time of its publication, namely the search for oneself, the longing to find oneself, the pride of the individual in relation to the world and history, in a period just after World War II when every certainty and every point of reference had been lost due to the atrocities of the Nazis. In the work the entire mystical and oriental atmosphere that characterizes the novel expresses itself, as does the symbolism of freedom and the reference to the true, highest, and spiritual essence on which Siddhartha’s insight and capacity for self-analysis rested; The mystical aspect of the figure at the center of the painting is made even more impressive by the use of vibrant, saturated colors, which can be traced back to hippie philosophy, because of which the book is often regarded as a symbol of the values of a movement that changed the world. Volker Rossenbach completed his studies in Graphic Design in 1969 and, after working as an art director and creative director for international agencies such as Leo Burnett or Grey, founded his own agency, E/B/D, in Düsseldorf, and his works, including the major Coca-Cola campaign from 1976 to 1978, were awarded multiple times. From his early, more experimental body of work he has now moved to a more figurative and traditional view, while always maintaining his inclination to use and mix innovative and unconventional means of expression; he can point to participation in group and solo exhibitions in Germany.

Text: Marta Lock, Italy. Art historian and curator.

This work, Birdland-Gambit, is from the series of my portraits with a bird. The depiction is based on a drawing from a living model. The painting is encompassed by an oak wooden frame.

My paintings are located in the following countries: USA (New York, Phoenix, Miami, Springfield, Santa Barbara), Canada (Montreal), Singapore, Taipei, Finland, Italy, France, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Austria, Luxembourg and many places in Germany.

Exhibitions National and International.
Further information at rossenbachart on the net