The Substance of Balance in Implicit Strength
by Luchia Meihua Lee
Connection of sky and earth, an invited design; 2014; Cement, granite, water ; 177.2 x 70.9 x 13.8 inches; photo credit Florian Holzherr. |
Sky Mirror, 2007, Steel, granite, water, 138 x 81 x 18 inches. Private collection |
From Blank's statement, we learn his work not only aspires to a type of "reductive art" or minimal aesthetic but also an exposure of means. 'You see not only "what you see" ... but how [it] got there, in the normally regular but nuanced not (melo)dramatically but subtly expressive, wake of the brush.' [3] Blank expresses purity in his works and has a precise grasp of the subtleties of three-dimensional shape. This is apparent in his flat paintings. Minimalists choose to let the art object present its own characteristics.
The essential composition shows the geometry of Blank's work and is more like Bauhaus's ingenious design and follows his literacy of the void, where solidity and emptiness are interlaced and complementary. In his sculpture, Blank uses steel and water to represent contrasting states constrained in time and space with mathematical rigor. "Natural philosophy" refers to the drive to draw moral and spiritual wisdom from God's creation. This natural philosophy embraces the over-arching languages of mathematics and theology and bends human invention to decipher appearance and the invisible. It has no restriction and harmonizes thought of such diverse thinkers as Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Erasmus, Isidore of Seville, and later Isaac Newton.
One of Blank's landscape sculptures, Sky Mirror, was commissioned for a garden and combines small ponds , water and steel into sculpture. Thus natural landscapes are contained in and complemented by soothing minimalism. The structure, is in perfect harmony with the garden, dialoguing with its numerous rare flowers and plants. Another imaginative use of reflection may be found in one of his church door designs where glass in a small cross reflects the grassy area in front of the church. Elegant and carefully calculated composition in steel and flowing water can be found in many of his sculpture pieces. In Sky Mirror, the variation in the flow of water, and consequently in the configuration of the water surface, induces a corresponding change in the reflection of the sky and the ambient light, which is particularly mesmerizing. The work catches and re-radiates the changing mood in the nature environment and the passage of the seasons, and even in its stillness is dynamic.
[3 images above: Invited design of the Dr. med. Weidlich medical hospital, include the outdoor entrance, and interior wall pieces.] |
W. J. T. Mitchell [5] delves into the relation between word
and image. While the former is the traditional domain of art history, if “art
history aims to become a critical discipline, one that reflects on its own
premises and practices,” then it must draw inspiration from and utilize the
tools of semiotics, structural linguistics, grammatology, discourse analysis,
rhetoric – and yes, even philosophy. Blank’s unique blend of minimalism,
design, mathematics, and philosophies both Eastern and Western, is an example
par excellence of art that demands to be analyzed in Mitchell’s terms – to be
appreciated on a purely visual level, but then more fully contextualized.
[1] Seb Falk, The Light Age: the Surprising Story of Medieval Science, WW. Norton & Company, 2020, p.4.
[2] ibid., p 5.
[3] Edward Strickland, 'Paint", Minimalism: Origins , Indiana University Press, 1993. p. 110.
[4] Gregory Battcock, Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology , University of California Press, 1995. p.181-185, p. 260-262
[5] Critical Terms in Art History , Nelson and Shiff, eds. University of Chicago Press, 1996, P 48.
David Elliot, Making Sense of Things, ed. Carin Kuoni, Words of Wisdom, Independent Curators International (ICI), NY. 2001.
Artist Statement
What I am looking for is the simplest forms to comprehend the world. I dedicated most of my time and energy to philosophy. Inspired by artist Piet Mondrian, art historian Hans Joachim Albrecht, and influenced by ‘Structures and Dynamics of Theories’ of Wolfgang Stegmüller, I transformed my artwork toward rational and conceptual expression by means of geometric structures. Lacking ornamentation, radically simplified geometric forms are grounded in Earth symbolism and demonstrate my concerns with the world, the body, the mind, and the spirit. I use a rational structure design result correlating width, length, area, volume, proportion, space, the mass, weight, and Fibonacci sequence to promote an aesthetic view and effect, and also respond to visual interpretation with implicit and metaphorical statements in a systematic style. My artwork is a product of a specific focus on the world that we live in and serves as a mirror for ourselves. At the beginning, we are embedded in a predetermined but unforeseeable background; however, continued and inevitable interactions reformat and re-shape us. In my artwork, I try to develop a harmonious, meditative character that promotes contemplation of both the rationality of the human intellect and its limitations. This reveals my innermost concern with consciousness – a seemingly comprehensible, mechanical structure, modified by a transcendence beyond the limits of rationality and hence unknowable.
- Artist Reinhard Blank web page https://reinhard-blank.de/
- The Substance of Balance in Implicit Strength https://conta.cc/3lSYcZk (of Constant Contact e-blast page)
- Reinhard Blank 的後花園小屋雕塑- 揭秘這一位德國巴伐利亞的小鎮藝術家
https://ll-greenyes.blogspot.com/2019/01/reinhards-spiritual-garden-bad.html
- Art as Implicit Substance 存在中的真實
https://ll-greenyes.blogspot.com/2019/08/reinhard-blank-art-as-implicit-substance.html
- Reinhard Blank: Venice 2019 exhibition preview video link:
https://youtu.be/CumOffw0M28
- Reinhard Blank “AusZeit - Art as Clarification, Stadtmuseum Memmingen ( to view Reinhard Blank “AusZeit - Art as Clarification at The Memmingen City Museum)
https://zeitmaschine-stadtmuseum-mm.de/de/ausstellungen/sonderausstellungen
- 德國巴伐利亞地區梅明根市-田園詩般的工業小城 Memmingen, Germany
https://ll-greenyes.blogspot.com/2013/09/memmingen-germany.html
More Reinhard Blank art work images to view:
Entrance to Church of Saint Martin in Memmingen, Germany, 2017. Glass and steel, 134 x 102 inches, photo credit Andreas Marx |
Shadow of the Mind; 2007, Steel, Japanese paper, glass, 20.5 x 16.5 x 5 inches/each |
Twelve Apostles; Steel, copper, and glass; invited design of the main door of church Kinderlehrkirche, 2011 built in Memmingen, Germany | ||
Interaction - Minimalsystem der Selbstreferenz III; 2004, Steel, 64 x 64 x 45.7 inches. The crumbling surface of the metal can be seen via time lapse photography. |
Sky Mirror, 2007, Steel, granite, water; 138 x 81 x 18 inches. | Private collection. | |
Reinhard Blank , Born in Memmingen, Germany.MFA (master class diploma), The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich , Germany
Selected Awards / Honors
- Arts Prize of City Memmingen (Kulturpreis der Stadt Memmingen), Germany.
- Special Artist Prize (‘Künstlersonderpreis’), Künstlerhaus, Marktoberdorf, Germany.
- Artwork - Raum Skulpturen ‘Garten der vier Eletmente‘ selected in publication, as one of the model and architectural inspiration in the Allgau region during 2013-2018 by Architektforum e.V. , a selection once in five years, reviewed by an international panel of professional architects.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- Visual Structure Theory -Tractatus of Ludwig Wittgensteins, associated with a lecture ‘how to reconstruct Wolfgang Stegmüller’s Interpretation of Tractatus, a theoretical model of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s in a visual form’, University Ulm, Germany.
- ‘Aesthetics of Void’, Kreuzherrnsaal, Memmingen, Germany.
- ‘Poesie der Unterscheidung’, Schloss Hohlenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
Selected Group Exhibitions
- "experiment konkret - Eugen Komringer zum 80.", Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt, Germany.
- “Sammlerkonzepte“, Kunstspeicher Museum, Würzburg, Germany.
- Anniversary Exhibition, Künstlerhaus, Marktoberdorf, Germany.Selected Public Art/Design
- ‘Interpretation from Trinity with “Minimalsystemen der Selbstreferenz”’ Ceiling Design –(size 99 m²)., Trinity Church (Dreifaltigkeitskirche), Ravensburg, Germany .
- Corridor and Worship Room Design for Arche Slowenien, Medvode Slowenien.
- Invited design of the entrance and souvenir area of St. Martin's church, Memmingen, Germany.
Selected Collections
- Municipal cultural department, Memmingen, Germany.
- Municipal cultural department, Kempten, Germany.
- DG-Bank, Hohenkammer, Germany.
- Selected Publications
- Minimalsystem der Selbstreferenz. Malerei im interkulturellen Dialog, Gallery Akzente 2001, Memmingen, Germany.
- essay – Teezeremonie und Spiritueller Raum - Überlegungen zu Wahrnehmungsformen von Transzendenz, published in Journal ‚Spiritual Care‘ volume 8(1) 2019, p. 67-75, DE GRUYTER, Germany.
- essay – Ent-täuschung – Spiritualität in book “ Spirituelle Erfahrung in philosophischer Perspektive”, p. 161-167, Walter de Gruyter Berlin, Germany.
Teaching
- 1991 - 1998 P rincipal of School 'Schule für Gestaltung', Teaching ‘philosophy of fine art,’ Ravensburg, Germany.
Contact artist:
Reinhard Blank
Thalatelier Reinhard Blank, Unterthal 33a, 88730 Bad Grönenbach -Thal Germany
email: info@reinhard-blank.de
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