Konrad Maass

Konrad Maass (born June 4, 1952 in Rostock ) is a German painter and graphic artist.

Life

After completing his apprenticeship as a steel shipbuilder, Maass worked at the shipyard. His first drawings were made in 1970. The work as a stoker at the University of Rostock followed in 1977 after passing the aptitude test and admission to the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts . He did not go to university, but studied the models in Dresden museums, where he had access as a night watchman . His acquaintance with Wilhelm Rudolph meant that he could consult him as a mentor. He made the acquaintance of Rainer Zille , Stefan Plenkers and Joachim Böttcher , held a weekly joint life drawing with Wolfgang Kühne , Günter Hein , Helge Leiberg and others and began his freelance work. From 1981 to 1990 he was a member of the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR . Through his acquaintance with the painter Egon Pukall , he gained access to the Tuscany district .

In the 1980s he was sponsored by the city of Dresden and got a studio in the Loschwitz Künstlerhaus , but he was not allowed to go on a study trip. He became a private master student and consultant to Harald Metzkes , who also supported him financially during this time.

The artist lives and works in the Künstlerhaus Dresden-Loschwitz . His works are in public and private collections nationwide.

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Maass' spectrum ranges from drawing and collage to watercolor and oil paintings. His work is powerful. In the large paintings one often finds stage-like open-fronted stage rooms with mannerist draped female nude figures against the background of a beach landscape and the open sea. The interaction of the figures shows emptiness. There is no communication between them. The whole thing seems surreal. In terms of color, the warm red tones of the walls together with the ocher yellow and blue create a harmonious picture. Time seems to have stopped. There are no indications that allow a current location in time. The painter sticks to figurative unity without taking into account the doctrine of socialist realism. The oil paint is applied with thick brush strokes. In his watercolors and drawings he succeeds in reproducing the serenity of the southern landscape with great success. He is also able to characterize the northern regions very well in their brittleness and roughness. In contrast, his portraits are more conventional. The incarnate, made up of several layers of paint, shows rough, easily recognizable faces. In contrast, the collages have more modern features. The color and formal reduction, which can sometimes go as far as the abstract, leads to delicate results. The art-historical influences range from the Mannerists to Rembrandt via Cézanne and Matisse to the Brücke artists.

Exhibitions (selection)

• Vodafone, Dresden 2013
• Helmholtz Institute, Dresden, 2014
• PRECIOUS ITEMS, Berlin, 2014
• Seewärts, Heringsdorf Art Pavilion , 2015

Works in museums and public collections

• City Museum Dresden : "Marionettenbühne" 1986 oil / canvas, three nudes 1998
• Art collection Neubrandenburg : "In Wachwitz" 1985 charcoal / watercolor
• Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden: "Nordbad" 1988 Oil / canvas
• Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus : "Palm House" color aquatint etching (graphic portfolio)
• Dresden: mural in the inner courtyard of Königstrasse 11

literature

• Christoph Tannert: Insights, Galerie West, Dresden, 1984
• Gitta K. Hennig: Young Artists in the Northern Gallery, 1984
• Harald Metzkes: Konrad Maas; Academy of Arts of the GDR, exhibition catalog, Berlin 1990
• Sigrid Walther: Konrad Maass on the exhibition in the Galerie Nord, Dresden
• Axel Schöne: Trust in the Senses, Painting and Graphics, 1992
• Ingrid Wenzkat: The human gives power to art, 1992

Web links

• Website Konrad Maass