Ulrich Erben (1940, Düsseldorf), considered one of the most significant living German painters, will present his solo exhibition at Art ON Istanbul from September 16 to October 18, 2014. The exhibition, his first in Turkey, features 40 works on canvas and paper. Included in major institutional and private collections, Erben will present works ranging from 1999 to 2014 in his exhibition titled Renklerin Belleği (Memory of Colors), curated by Necmi Sönmez.
Erben gained attention in the post-1960 German art scene through his compositions that combine warm and cool tones, creating abstract arrangements that evoke diverse associations for viewers. These open-ended works, which can be interpreted differently by each viewer, elicit emotional resonance through their refined color sense and unusual tonal combinations.
The exhibition’s title, Memory of Colors, opens the door to the associative worlds shaped by viewers’ diverse cultural, geographic, and personal backgrounds. In his purely abstract works, which reference no natural forms, Erben organizes his compositions into distinct regions based on the principles of geometry. These regions, or color fields, on a two-dimensional canvas help generate perceptions that suggest a three-dimensional depth. By moving away from illusion and illustration, Erben seeks to explore the liberating possibilities of inner perspectives.
Working both in Düsseldorf and in the Bagnoregio region near Rome, the artist brings an approach that investigates the possibilities of intercultural interaction within his compositions.