Fahnel 1997
	Oil on Canvas

hw "In the Banner Paintings there are two or three ideas that I follow. They are the Flag as a series of coloured stripes and the Banner as' a piece of moving, folding fabric, and the notion of fabric as a curtain that can conceal something.

You have the concrete aspect of painting, with the questions of "what is material, which material do I work with, what exactly am I doing?" And there are also aspects of concept art or rather conceptual notions of what painting is. On the other hand, there is the question of content, or if you like, the "literary" aspect of figurative painting that has a narrative intention. "

yf "You lay a trail for the spectator, and if he follows you, you shoot off in another direction. In a certain sense, you play with the notion that there is a certain position inherent in the picture and you flaunt it, only to withdraw again the moment the spectator reaches out for it. In short, your paintings tease".

hw "Figurative Painting is not aimed specifically at exploring questions of material, of underground and of the way that underground is covered up. My idea is to create a synthesis, but not one that ends in Surrealism, - a synthesis that is neither absurd nor cynical. And I have a feeling that what makes sense is the fact that a banner has these different aspects. A banner has this straight planarity. A banner is made of fabric and therefore has a potential for motion. This motion or folding creates a figurative impression, and yet at the same time planarity is still there as a concrete aspect.

This also introduces a complex notion of sensuality. There is a tangible sensuality in terms of the object. For example, if you think of an item of clothing or a piece of fabric over a breast, these are sensual forms. But this has nothing to do with colour or with the material. Colour fields also possess a sensuality, but on a totally different level. A material like oil paint is extremely sensual compared to acrylic paint, or the monitor with its light. That is why the works have to be painted and not just screened on a monitor.''

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