Sabine Liebchen

The Magic of the Moment

"Though we know of the invisible, i.e. assume its existence with some certainty, we can only depict an allegory that stand for the invisible that it is not."

This is a quotation of Gerhard Richter, perhaps the most significant of contemporary
artists.

Understanding Sabine Liebchen's hyperreal paintings, which are apparently so clearly fixed in the here and now, as an "allegory for the invisible" - such a claim may at first be rather daring. However, those who are involved more closely with art, its signs, symbols and levels of meaning, already know just how often first appearances are deceiving.

So, just what are these first appearances telling us in Sabine Liebchen's figurative and cool and elegant paintings?

Initially, we perceive contemporary characters, obviously in the art of leisure. A young blond woman out shopping on her mobile, a woman walking on the beach - her light summer shoes in her hand, another young woman - seemingly waiting, a woman out jogging.

The portfolio appears to be explicit and clear, but closer reflection and analysis give way to various levels of meaning. The paintings endorse this - they are open to interpretation and invite the observer and his fantasy to...