Thomas Kratz

In many respects, the work of German artist Thomas Kratz (°1972, Waiblingen, Germany) defies summation. Kratz works across a variety of media, including painting, sculpture and performance art. His work explores the exterior of painting, often by using soft colors on materials other than traditional canvas. The works of Kratz play with the idea of the painting as a mirror, rather than with the old and traditional idea of the painting as a window to the world. The topic of body and skin is frequently present, as the last border between ‘self’ and the ‘other’, between the container of self and the world outside, which nowadays shows itself more and more fragile.
In his earlier “Lick Gin” series, metal pigments, such as manganese and tin, were painted on wood, while his “Nude” series used flesh tones on glass. The resulting paintings turn the viewer into a perceptual participant, captivating their senses with a tangible feeling of absorption. In recent years, his paintings have particularly reflected his intense involvement with images of bodies, with portraits, with a smile, and with depicting human skin tones. These days they appear more minimal, more or less abstract, even occasionally monochromatic.
Thomas Kratz’ paintings substantiate their character as objects by the way they are made. Physical details reveal the manner in which they were realized. Thus, the paintings appear to be more objects than images, meaning they hover somewhere between the two poles of surface and of object. Kratz also creates performance art, sculptures and, more recently, reliefs, which are only at first glance a contradiction to his painting work.
What his paintings and performances have in common is that they require a certain form of perception, oriented not to specific figural form, but rather to the actual experience of viewing them and seeking the particular activity in the picture.

Submitted by Keteleer Gallery