Naturelich

Gerhard Richter: Rosen, 1994. Oil on canvas, 46 x 51 cm, private collection. © Gerhard Richter

Yesterday evening I visited a phenomenal exhibition in Düsseldorf's K20 - Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen: Gerhard Richter. Richter is one of the most important artists of our time. He has created beautiful paintings with representational motifs as well as completely abstract images. His landscapes are absolutely magnificent. Taking photographies as the basis he creates blurry images of the present. The title of the painting does not always match what we see. Waldhaus (House in the forrest), for example, shows the house only partially at the right border of the picture, the rest is forrest and mountains. You feel like you are drawn into the picture and yet you feel strangely repelled by it: the bluriness, the smeary yet clear painting technique. This makes his paintings very interesting and absolutely great to have in your living room. However, one needs to have big cash to afford this as Richter is the most expensive living artist.

Continue reading "Gerhard Richter exhibition in K20" »

Posted by Naturelich at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Düsseldorf's art scene is preparing for todays Nacht der Museen (Museum night). 2005 will be the 5th anniversary of this annual event. More than 30 museums and galleries will be opened tonight. I am planning to visit the K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen which is currently showing an interesting Gerhard Richter exhibition. For internet junkies the SFMOMA offers a section on Making Sense of Modern Art focused on Richter's work.

Posted by Naturelich at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, my family and I visited Tutanchamun - The Golden Beyond in Bonn. I had already seen the exhibition in Basel's Antikenmuseum on August 15th, 2004. The exhibition which continues to run until May 1st, 2005 is hosted in Bonn's Bundeskunsthalle. Similar to Basel, the exhibition was crowded with people.

To give you an impression: we arrived a little bit too early and enjoyed a cup of coffee. As we set foot into the entrance hall, they were selling tickets at the box-office for entry at 15:30 hrs. A long queue had already formed and I joked about chances being slim for these guys at the end to actually make it in on that very same day. After a quick stop at the cloakroom attendant in the basement they were already selling tickets for 18:00 hrs. Good luck for us, as our pre-order was filed months ago.

Aside from being crowded the exhibition was great for me. My sister had already visited Cairo's Egyptian Museum and was used to the 3000 year-old cultural treasures of Tutanchamun. But I think she still enjoyed it. I am definitely not an expert on anything Egypt but this exhibition is a must-see. Even when visiting the second time it still offered new things to discover. Oh, and yes, there is one thing which made the Bonn experience a little bit strange:

Deutsche Telekom, the main sponsor in Bonn, accomplished to color the display cabinets in their corporate identity. Can you imagine how strange this looks? A 3000 year-old blue fayence item in Telekom-pink? Yummie, my eye was dying a slow but painful death...

Posted by Naturelich at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kalkriese is famous for being the place where Germania fought against the Roman occupation force. In 9 A.D. the Roman army lost three legions and more than 10,000 people died. Named after Roman leader Publius Quintilius Varus this defeat went into history as The Varus Battle.

Continue reading "Thusnelda and Arminius - Love and War in Kalkriese" »

Posted by Naturelich at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This question has been posted quite often and plenty of books have been published on this topic. Today I found an interesting German webpage on this. The author tries to falsify the (so-called) evidence brought forward by those who have doubts that mankind set foot on the moon. Go to mondlandung.pcdl.de for more details.

Posted by Naturelich at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Osnabrück's Felix Nussbaum Haus (architect Daniel Libeskind) currently exhibits Nussbaum's works within the context of paintings of other artists of his time, e.g. Paul Klee, Max Beckmann and Pablo Picasso. Nussbaum, who was born in Osnabrück 100 years ago (December 1904), is Osnabrück's most famous artist. The city celebrates Nussbaums anniversary with a special exhibition Zeit im Blick.

We went there with the entire family. Since we were already familiar with the architecture we fully focused on the art. The paintings are grouped by subject and give an interesting contrast. Self-portraits depicting helplessness voiced through the medium of art, the cohesion of family during the Nazi regime, etc. A very very remarkable exhibition which has seen more than 20,000 visitors already. Highly recommended!

Posted by Naturelich at 11:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

American taxpayers are made aware of the fortune the government spends on the war in Iraq. This initiative is sponsored by CostofWar.com.

Please note the sarcasm in my post (category assignment!)

Also, I think reducing it to a monetary figure (whatever the increase) does not suit the topic either. I mean there are people dying on both sides!

Posted by Naturelich at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Naturelich is very excited about paintings from Stefan Hoenerloh. They are very dark paintings however clear and concise in structure. They seem to be real, reflect a scene that every one of us has inside of their heads. The large buildings in a cityscape. However, these images are not real. The originate from the artists imagination and bear wonderful fantastic titles, like At the Right Side close to the Picture: Il Tempietto Farnesina or The Acceptance of the Inherent Lies in Everything. Cool stuff. I am still worrying whether these images would be too dark in my living room. I do not want to get depressed by these paintings, but my living room wall could finally use a decent piece of art. Hoenerloh definitely qualifies!

Posted by Naturelich at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have finished reading E-Mail an alle by Matt Beaumont. The book is sooo cool. It is written in a very extraordinary style: everything via e-mail. The book is staged in the London office of advertising agency's Miller Shanks. The company relies heavily on their lower level creative artists while managers are abundantly fighting among themselves. This is just like real life. Ego-centrics, power-play, vulgarities - they are all depicted in the form of e-mails. And this makes the book very interesting. This totally hooked me up! You can read an e-mail rather quickly - it is short, it is precise. You get anxious about the recipients reply. Triggered by this concept the books draws you in deeper and deeper and you just cannot stop reading. I finished the book in a few days. It was really fun - there were a few instances where I burst into loud laughter. A very enjoyable book...

Posted by Naturelich at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I visited Museum Ludwig's Edward Hopper exhibition yesterday. Hopper (1882-1967), most famous for Nighthawks (1942), focused his art on American civilisation. His paintings seem to tell a story. I found topics like loneliness, the "beauty" of American cities, non-communication, theatre/movies and a lot of others. The exhibition will continue until January 9th, 2005. From what I can remember, the following pieces are exhihbited:

Posted by Naturelich at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dieter Nuhr played in Osnabrück (Germany) on November 18th. Together with a couple of friends and equipped with four free tickets this was a very fun and enjoyable evening. Dieter was obviously in top form and great shape. Some of the stories and jokes were already known to the audience, as Dieter has released his current program on CD (on November 8th) and was appearing on Germany's most popular TV show (Wetten dass...) last weekend. His show is all about the condition of man in Germany, human beings and life in general. The key message - for the audience to remember - is to have sex and enjoy a decent barbeque. Thus: back to basics, put your worries to rest. Easily said, although men can agree with that statement, can't they?!

The whole program is a lot of fun, with a lot of laughs. At the end of the show, the man who has become famous for stating Wenn man keine Ahnung hat, einfach mal Fresse halten had a little improvisation - stand-up comedy piece. For example, the audience tried to get him into a bar (after-show party). But since no one was able to name a decent establishment, he made quite some fun of the city. Well deserved, one could add ... ;)

Posted by Naturelich at 1:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today is juhst another day. Or in German: Heute ist Nuhr ein Tag wie jeder andere. Or is it? No, today, it is Dieter Nuhr day. Naturelich will be seeing his show in Osnabrück today. Look for a report in a few days...

Posted by Naturelich at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Germany's Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn shows a great Tutanchamun exhibition
from November 4th, 2004 - May 1st, 2005. Until last Sunday, the same exhibition was on display in Basel. I had the chance to enjoy it on August 15th where you can see a small review. In Basel, the exhibition was overrun by about 600,000 visitors in 180 days. The original plan was to bring the exhibition to the United States, but since no museum was able to take it that quickly, the exhibition is moving to Bonn, instead.

Posted by Naturelich at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today I found an interesting project on the web which is hosted at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY: Tall Buildings allows you to browse through 25 tall buildings designed within the last 10 years. The tour includes two proposals for the new World Trade Center (New York City) , the 7 S Dearborn (Chicago), Kowloon Station (Hong Kong) and many more. It is absolutely spectacular! Be sure to download the Flash 6 plugin before...

Posted by Naturelich at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cologne's Museum Ludwig is currently showing a small Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition. The photographer who died earlier this August is famous for capturing the decisive moment. The exhibition displays about 40 vintage prints and about prints shown in Cologne in the 1970s. Unfortunately, the latter are in no good shape. Nonetheless, seeing these images is really impressive as each one tells an interesting story. You can really see the scene evolve. The exhibition (€ 7.50 fee) continues until September 12th and will be followed by an Edward Hopper exhibition starting October 9th-January 9th 2005. Hopper's works are currently on display in Basel...

Posted by Naturelich at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Buckingham Palace has opened it's doors again to the public. After 30 miuntes in a looong queue we finally made it. Naturelich equipped with a program and headphones we felt honoured to be admitted into the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace. The visit was well worth the money! Actually walking through the rooms everyone has seen to some extend on television is an astonishing and marvelous experience. Although the modesty of Her Royal Majesty is well-known, but I have to say: these rooms make you feel the power the British Empire has.

We were particularly impressed with the pieces of art: paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, incredible Sèvres porcelaine and wonderful pieces of furniture. You ain't seen nothing yet! To put it in a nutshell: 12 GBP very well invested! More details on the official pages of the British Monarchy.

Posted by Naturelich at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Tutanchamun exhibition in Basel is great! Although rather crowded, it is well worth the investment of 28 SFr. The Antikenmuseum Basel is showing not only pieces of the legendary Tutanchamun but also items from The Valley of Kings. I am definitely no expert in Egyptian history but the ancient Egyptian culture must have been terrific - at least for the Pharaos. I would definitely recommend to visit the exhibition to see these wonderful unique pieces of power, art and craftsmanship! The exhibition runs until October 3.

Posted by Naturelich at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Naturelich, Amsterdam has been quite an experience (who would have guessed) --- ;-) Some thoughts and experiences while they are still fresh...

A boat-bus tour through the city was real fun to do. You can simply hop-on and hop-off as you desire and get a tour through the old part of the city. It was really worthwhile - perhaps a little but to much tourism. But if I were to live in Amsterdam, I would definitely get my own boat to cruise the Canals with some friends and some beers.

We also visited the Rijksmuseum which was showing the masterpieces of Rembrandt and Vermeer and other famous classic Dutch artists. It was really remarkable and better than one would have expected. I was especially fond of a picture by Aert van de Neer called River by the Moonlight which shows a wonderful Dutch scenery at night in the moonlight. The picture can be found on the Rijksmuseum webpages with some additional descriptions.

Posted by Naturelich at 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)