Benedikt Leonhardt: Pale Blue Dot

White canvases. Vague depth in at first glance light, object-free works. Only by taking a step closer do the traces, cracks and layers emerge. The marks on the canvas suggest the spaces behind the surface, but do not reveal them.

Benedikt Leonhardt’s works challenge. With how little tangible, one can represent diversity? How few stimuli excite the eye (yet)? The narrative does not play a role. It is up to us what we see. The insatiable urge to pursue that which does not want to open up to us right away.

Benedikt Leonhardt has taken abstraction to a new level. His digital screenshots transferred to canvas are only the starting point of an intuitive working process. While layering a multitude of semi-transparent layers, Leonhardt is always in dialogue with the image. Lawed tapes are design tools and part of the overall composition. In his new works, he shows works that are almost completely withdrawn in their colorfulness. The reduction up to the supposed white represents a new variety.
In the end, the question arises: Is one still talking about abstraction here or better about painting that is able to represent the material concretely? What we see is the pure synthesis of color as sensation and color as substance.

[ Laura Gerstmann, 2022]

 

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