Subgaze.com presents two painting series by Gabriele Schlesselmann. The artwork comprises figurative and abstract compositions that address existential questions and are open in their pictorial expression.

Series in shades of red

Gabriele Schlesselmann's artwork focuses on both personal and philosophical issues. On a formal level, the relationship between figure and space remains the main motif of the paintings. Foreground and background merge into one another in varied compositions, causing the boundaries between figuration and abstraction to disappear. Through multi-layered colour overlays, the surroundings of the painted motifs appear like a physical reality.  

• Image 1: Embraced by Pink, 2019, oil on bristol board, 29 x 5 cm
• Image 2: In the middle is the apex, 2019, acrylic and oil on Bristol board, 29 x 8 cm
• Image 3: double bind - Doppelbindung, 2019, oil on Bristol board, 29 x 15 cm

Water cannon

In the series The Impact, white paint hits fleeing or falling bodies like a violent mass. The title and motif point to the use of water cannons as long-range weapons, as used by the police in confrontations at demonstrations. Before the fall of communism, Gabriele Schlesselmann experienced the power of such a water jet on her own body. In the small-format series, the clash of matter has a violent effect despite the restrained use of colour.

• Image 4 – 11:Water canon series 1 ­– 8: The impact, 2019, mixed media on wood, 14,5 x 26 cm

The Impact: Media Diversity

The painterly series The Impact with its diverse representations of water jets forms the subject of the video work White. The artist's preference for alternating sharpness and blurriness reaches new dimensions in the digital format. Rhythmic image sequences and minimalist musical parts determine the tempo, which is interrupted in between by a black monitor. 

• Img 12 – 15: Water canon series 9, 10, 11 und 14: The impact, 2019, Mixed media on wood, 14,5 x 26 cm

• Image 16 – 17: Water canon series 15, 16: The impact, 2019, mixed media on wood, 14,5 x 26 cm

• Image 18 – 19: Water canon series 18, 21: The impact, 2019, mixed media on wood, 14,5 x 26 cm