CARPE CORONA
27-part picture cycle
(Prices on request)
Creativity and crisis are two sides of the same coin. While public life was largely paralyzed in mid-March 2020 in order to get a grip on the effects of the corona virus, this situation, which is unknown to everyone so far, also creates new spaces for the artist.
Thus Ralf Nietmann has found a multifaceted artistic expression for his work in recent weeks. Almost every day, works of art are created that reflect themes of everyday life in a pandemic and are shaped by the artist's feelings, interpretations and visions. Following his intuition and inspired by the mood swings generated by this extraordinary everyday life, Ralf Nietmann creates works which, with their sensual imagery and filigree details, become a visual document of our time.
Delicate pastel shades, surrounded by fine lines, underline feelings of fragility and uncertainty in the depicted motifs. Darker, rather flatly applied colors, often in connection with format-filling figures, express themes such as contact closure and quarantine. Other pictures glow in colors that David Hockney could not have chosen better: Bright tones - from lemon yellow to pinkish red, from turquoise blue to grass green - radiate joy, energy and confidence.
In contrast to the manifold motifs and interpretations, the works are produced on wooden panels in only two formats, 24 x 30 cm and 30 x 40 cm. Corona was also the guiding thought in the selection of the material: in order to be well prepared for a situation in domestic quarantine, Ralf Nietmann had the tableaus cut in these handy sizes so that he could devote himself to his painting even in a small space.
— Katharina Mokross, 2020