Sebastian Ickrath

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tiger , screen printing and acrylic on canvas (2013)

Sebastian Ickrath (born August 13, 1965 in Berlin ) is a German painter and graphic artist .

Life

Born in 1965 in Berlin as the child of the artist couple Gabriele and Joachim Ickrath , who co-founded the artist group ZAAZ , he was drawn into the cultural and social search for meaning of the time. Traditional structures and religious ties were called into question. The “hippie wave”, coming from America, seized Europe.

Sebastian's parents decided to give the six year old boy to an ashram (Indian monastery) in Dallas / Texas . At the age of 11, they took him from there to the Hare Krsna Ashram in Vrindavana , India, where his first contact with Gestetner printing machines took place, which he already loved as a child. Under strict religious rites, monthly shaved during a full moon, he learned the Vedas recite Sanskrit to read and write and was given the Sanskrit name "Purple Smaran".

The meaning of the name marked his nature, as he meant something like "good memory, remembrance of the divine games of Krishno". Sebastian Ickrath works between 2007 and 2009 under his stage name Leela or Leela Ickrath.

Returning to the West at the age of 17, Ickrath began to learn the German language again and to discover his European roots. His curiosity led him mainly to cities, which were a profound contrast to the simple life he had led up to now. After stays in London and Aix-en-Provence , he moved with his father to Saarbrücken in 1982 and later to Berlin. There he worked in printing shops and got to know different printing processes, of which he was particularly fascinated by screen printing and etching . Under the guidance of his father, he first implements his drawings. At the same time he began to work artistically and to develop a visual style.

1991 returned to Saarland and lived as a freelance artist in Völklingen . He created several series with large-format screen prints on canvas , cardboard , laid paper and wood . In 2001 he published a 98-page art book with graphics under the title Gerakelt . With the Metropolis series created between 2005 and 2011 , which was later shown at several German main train stations, he processed his fascination with big cities. He is now working increasingly with other processes and materials. This is how new series of images were created on the computer. He also created large-format wooden works. Since 2004 he has lived and worked in Warburg , Westphalia .

Work / work phases

Ickrath prefers large-format works in opulent colors, which are mostly produced using the screen printing process. With a mixture of symbols, color worlds and compositional patterns from the East - borrowed from Indian mysticism in particular - and from the West, it creates unique moods.

“... In this respect, it can be stated that Sebastian Ickrath succeeds with his works in building a formally credible bridge between cultures, which is at the same time characterized by the high respect that Sebastian Ickrath has for his - temporarily experienced - Indian homeland. This also makes it clear that home always lives when an inner relationship, a soulmate, guides this feeling. " (Beate Reifenscheid 2001)

Work phases

  • 1994 - 1998 Series 1 - around 70 large-format screen prints on canvas
  • 1997 - 2001 Series 2 - approx. 60 large-format works, mixed media on wood
  • 2001 - 2005 Series 3 - approx. 80 screen prints on canvas. Cardboard, laid paper
  • since 2005 series “METROPOLIS” In this series of pictures Sebastian Ickrath traces cultural metropolises and their complexity. To this end, he has chosen centers full of euphoria: Rome and Paris, Vienna, London and Berlin are simply Europe's cultural heavyweights. New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles embody the lifestyle of liberty like no other city. Luxembourg, Metz and Trier and even Saarbrücken are paradigmatic for a successful coexistence in the triangle of Germany, France and Luxembourg.
  • since 2009 series "Rocketships and Tigers"
  • 2016 - 2017 "Wood Work" series
  • since 2018 series "MoneyMoon"

Exhibitions (selection)

Collections / commissioned work

  • AC Pharma, Munich
  • Computer Associates, London
  • Heitkamp & Thomann Group, Düsseldorf
  • Lieser & Rombach, Erfurt / Koblenz
  • Richter service companies / Richter Premium, Schonfra, Bad Brückenau
  • RIG Investments, Amsterdam
  • Sachsenring AG, Zwickau
  • Tombas, Bad Salzschlirf
  • gladstone plc, London
  • Helios Kliniken - St. Petri Hospital, Warburg, Westphalia
  • Leonardo Hotel, old town Dresden
  • Herweck AG, Kirkel

Gallery / Selected Works

  • Blessed Hand (1997)

  • Sushi Alarm 5 (2013)

  • On Zop (2013)

  • Cutout 1 (2014)

  • Cutout 2 (2014)

  • Cutout 3 (2014)

Web links

Commons : Sebastian Ickrath  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature, sources

  • Beate Reifenscheid: Sebastian Ickrath - color modules , Koblenz 2001
  • Katrin Eichenlaub: Extravagant journey through the world, BILD newspaper Völklingen, September 19, 2011
  • Sandra Wiemers: I paint with a sieve , Neue Westfälische Zeitung , Warburg, October 13, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Ickrath, Sebastian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ickrath, Leela (stage name); Leela (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin