Ulrich Erben

Membran II, 1995

Ulrich Erben’s early work dealt with the ‘non-color’ white and its tonal gradations, before moving on subsequently to ‘real’ colors. In general terms his color painting is derived from the tensions between strict surface build-up, an individual approach to paint application and the individual colors themselves. The artist’s confession that he has only ever had one theme – landscapes – can be understood in terms of the spatial suggestions resulting from the interplay of elements in a picture and in particular from their color contrasts. In this way the pictures serve as sounding boards for subjective memories and feelings. For the artist, the geometrically objectified and individual applications of color are capable of characterizing a place perceived as ‘landscape-like’ even without being directly representational.