Den Berlin-baserade konstnären Andi Fischer är aktuell med sin första soloutställning i Sverige. Närmare bestämt på Östermalmsgalleriet Warner Larsen med premiär den 7 september. Men sin karaktäristiskt naivistiska estetik uppmanar Fischer: OBACHT! Akta. Temat är apokalyps och utställningen omfattar 12 målningar och 3 skulpturer. Vi ringde upp konstnären för att få veta mer om OBACHT!, hur skateboarden blev en väg till konsten – och givetvis om apokalypsen.
Hi Andi! What can you tell us about your upcoming exhibition at Larsen Warner?
– I’m really looking forward to it. I’m very excited to see how people will react to the work. Most of all I’m excited to get to know the city and to meet the people who live here.
How did you and Larsen Warner find each other and why are the two of you a good Match?
– Larsen Warner asked my gallery in Copenhagen (Avlskarl) if there was a chance to collaborate. I was very happy about that proposal because I think that they always put on high quality shows. Right away our conversations went really well, that’s how we got together.
This is your first solo exhibition in Sweden – what are your thoughts about the Stockholm art scene and how do you think your art will resonate with the Swedes?
– I think that the quality of works at the Swedish art schools as well as in the Swedish institutions is really excellent. To me the type of art education that is being practiced here and also how people engage with art seems really free. But really that’s more of an educated guess. I hope I’ll get a chance to talk to some art students to see if my feeling is correct.
Tell us about your work with sculptures!
– Sculptures have always been part of my practice. Working with wood is a nice distraction from the canvas. It is more meditative. Also wood shows me limits the canvas does not show. The sculptures and their materials have their own rules and often offer less leeway.
Is there one painting or sculpture that you will be showing that means something extra to you or that carries a special story?
– The paintings GOOD NEWS UNTERGANG AGAIN 1-3 are about the end of the world, a topic that has always occupied mankind. Humanity currently has some huge tasks ahead and once again it seems as if we were right on the brink of the abyss. But history also shows that somehow things will go on. We have to do something to keep things positive though. The central piece shows a trumpet player based on the Apocalypse of St. John. In Revelation 8 of John the seven angels usher in the end of the world with their trumpets.
What can you tell us about the title of this exhibition?
– OBACHT means “watch out” in German. But it comes across as very authoritarian. I was often confronted with this word as a child and teenager. I hated the term back then. Today I know that this term can also have a nurturing aspect. It offers time to act.
Tell us about a time when art left a lasting impression on you?
– In my teenage years when I first noticed the graphics on my skateboard. That showed me that there is more than just old master paintings and boring art lessons in school.
What inspires you right now?
– Conversations and discussions with friends and acquaintances. Books and stories. Music and news.