DIE GALERIE

The exhibition Torsten Holtz – Human Beings, which opens at DIE GALERIE Seoul on September 3, 2010, is the first international solo exhibition of the young artist Torsten Holtz. Born in Berlin, Germany, in 1973, Torsten Holtz was successfully introduced to the Korean art world at KIAF 2009, where his work enjoyed the highly positive response of the Korean public. Now, DIE GALERIE Seoul is pleased to present an extensive selection of approximately 20 new and exciting paintings by this talented artist.

Torsten Holtz is a portraitist. His work initially seems to focus on his main theme, the human being. But the observer feels quite lost in front of his paintings – any attempt to connect the characters to a narrative, or to interpret their gestures, fails because of the stylization of the figures, their frozen movements, and their introversive view. The figures depicted appear familiar and at the same time removed from reality; motionless and amenable to interpretations, they are none the less distant and reserved. They reveal nothing – no story, no hint of their lives. First and foremost, they are a riddle for the observer. They stand there, vested in neutral clothes and postures, watching and waiting, silent in quiet isolation. Whether standing alone or in a group, each and all remain isolated and detached. Likewise, the (normally outdoor) ambience does not reveal anything either; it appears inconclusively empty in neutral, almost grey light.
In his work, Torsten Holtz shifts the focus from the figure to the materiality and particularity of the light, to the temperature of the skin, and to the details that tempt a new search for meaning. The meticulous technique, the moments of central perspective, the execution of the background and textiles, and the postures of the figures themselves are reminiscent of the Renaissance. Aspects such as these reveal the artist’s obvious awareness and examination of art historical traditions even as his work also pays homage, with its smooth surfaces and reduction of detail, to the conventions of Magic Realism and formal principles of New Objectivity. The only influential voice, guideline and quality requirement for Holtz’ own creative work is the opinion of his professor Volker Stelzmann, a painter of the second generation of the famous School of Leipzig. Aside from Stelzmann, the young artist has no role models – although he does admit to keeping a serious “inner eye” on Albrecht Dürer while painting.

But despite these apparent references, the formalism of his work manifests an artistic connection to the now, revealing a liberated individual free of any mystic and/or religious heritage. “Half of life consists of waiting”, explains the artist, who sees this moment – something he finds particularly interesting in the work of Samuel Beckett – as the symbol of an existential emptiness of humanity.

Opening:

September 3, 2010, 6 pm
The artist Torsten Holtz is present.

DIE GALERIE Seoul
96-8 Chungdam-dong, Gangnam-gu
135-100 Seoul, KOREA