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PARIS |
SINGAPORE |
SINGAPORE |
HONG-KONG |
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HONG-KONG |
SINGAPORE |
LONDON |
SINGAPORE |
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KOIDL Gerd
GERD KOIDL: THE PAINTED RELIEFS
Born in 1942 to a family of artists in Kapfenburg, Austria, Gerd Koidl showed a profound interest in art from an early age, winning a competition for mosaic design. He later took up sculpture, under the tutelage of master Austrian sculptor Hans Diepold. Trained in both painting and sculpting, Koidl has developed a distinctive style straddling the two media, a style truly unique among his art contemporaries.
Koidl’s work is inspired by his extensive travels in China, Tibet, and Japan. Whether he depicts a Tibetan tanka, or a Japonese kimono, he recalls and reworks his memories and experiences from these journeys until they are uniquely his own. Using unorthodox styles and materials, Koidl finds modes in which he can express his inner feelings. Concerned with life, he explores the plane of human emotions and their impact on life as well as art. Gradually, he has developed his own way of making reliefs, using materials such as clay, plaster, aluminium foil, cast paper, and gold leaf, built up on wood or canvas and then modelled and engraved. The resulting art offers more a tantalising suggestion of Asia than exact statements – Koidl’s own interpretation of culture and ritual.
The influences on Koidl’s paintings are diverse, including Fantastic Realism, Surrealism, and even the painter Hieronymus Bosch. Certainly, one of the greatest artistic inspirations for his work is the artist Gustav Klimpt, in whom one sees the opulently decorative style popular in turn-of-the-century Vienna. Following the tradition of the Viennese school, Koidl uses deep, rich colours, incorporating goldleaf, complex patterns, and a simplistic composition. Yet, his work is truly his own, abstracted to capture better the transcendental philosophies and cultures he strives to represent.
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