Abstraction is founded on a reduction to the consistency of paint and its colours. Bernard Frize understands painting as a process that is dependent on the behaviour of the paint during application. In this way, every work emerges according to its own logic and system, making its compositional structure comprehensible. Coincidence and the technically determined paint application process become the subject of the works, which are conceived as work groups and express a tremendous spectrum of variations. The method of handling paint defines the artistic outcome; the structure of the process determines the diversity of possibilities. It is essential to any understanding of these paintings that their genesis is visualised within them. The artist wishes to convey the “basics behind the experience of painting”, to show the relation between his thoughts and actions.
Patron of the exhibition is the Ambassador of the Republic of France.
Endowed with 10,000 euros, the art prize is presented in the Berlinische Galerie every two years. The artists receiving the award are always based in Germany, but their creative work can be said to have an international impact.
Members of the jury
Prof. Frank Badur, member of the Fine Art Section of the Academy of the Arts, Berlin
Udo Kittelmann, director of the Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Dr. Thomas Köhler, director of the Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
Prof. Karin Sander, artist, Berlin
Trak Wendisch, artist, Berlin