Klaus-Martin Treder: YES-WHAT

One series of acrylic paintings by Klaus-Martin Treder (*1961) is called »Orientierungsverlust und Ästhetik« (loss of orientation and aesthetics). His oeuvre in contrast is structured into three clearly distinguishable formats, so that loss of orientation may well be understood as the motif of the works rather than the modus operandi of their creation. Paintings and works of paper are grouped together as »paintings« in series and groups of works, then there are his »objects« and, furthermore, his »posters«. His work is full of self-referential technical and discursive references, as well as those re­ferencing something external. By freely combining the individual production steps, the artist assembles skins of paint, slender drop cascades and even clumsy garlands on dripped and poured color bases. As a result, individual elements protrude precariously from the image surface, exceed the boundary, to gently move in a draft of air, or risk ­falling off even with careful handling. This under­lines the object character inevitably inherent in ­painted images, and at the same time raises the question of the space that allows a painting to be presented and understood as such. The question of the impact and significance of images is further exacerbated by elements applied to the image ­surface—a motley repertoire of familiar items from everyday life: candies and sweets, lipstick and shampoo, coffee beans and ties, asthma ­inhalers and paint tubes, even hair of the head and body. There is a striking chromaticity that is neither expressive nor formalistic. The conceptual materialization of paint straight from the tube—»readymade« as it were!—in this case redefines the ontological status of painting as an institution in art. The book is designed according to a concept by the artist where a four-sided, differently colored, yet blank sheet is placed around every second ­printed sheet, thus activating a kind of contem­plative »pause«. This volume thus provides a true pleasure for lovers of book art, it is something to hold in your hands, to leaf through, to move and to linger with for a moment.