Behold, the merciless fate is calling me back, and sleep is again falling on my tear-stained eyes.
Vergil, Georgica IV.
Mythology has a special place in Siegfried Herz's work, intertwining through his paintings, drawings and photographs like the submerged river Lethé, laden with the fates of countless men and women, entire generations of suffering and suffering, seeking and losing. Herz, however, does not see the mythological stories as outdated. His works are thus entirely contemporary, showing the constancy and sameness of human emotions, which are not subject to time or the vain illusions of progress. In his paintings and visions, Herz is a perceptive observer who does not bring comfort, but rawly reveals moments of a time so lost that his search for it is previously futile and impossible. The very form of Herz's paintings and drawings is remarkably consistent with the chosen themes. The muted colours, blurred contours and a certain photographic quality support the melancholic moment of stopping. He has managed to translate the method of colour washes and the use of coffee grounds that he worked with in his earlier drawings to the larger formats of his contemporary canvases. Herz is a sensitive observer and an idiosyncratic interpreter of the ups and downs experienced in secret. Despite this apparent detachment, however, he also enters into the action personally and invites the viewer to do the same.
The opening: Wednesday 7th of September
