Disruption No.1 Print

M Jo Klinger completed her studies in painting, applied sculpture and graphic arts at the Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw. During her studies between 1980 and 1985, three teachers significantly influenced her artistic development: Prof. Zbigniew Karpinski, a post-impressionist colourist; Prof. Jan Jaromir Aleksiun, the co-founder of the so-called Wroclaw Poster School; and Prof. Leszek Kacma who was influenced by the art movements of Unism and Constructivism and the founder of the "Visual Knowledge" course at the Academy of Art and Design. In 1985, the artist graduated with a Master's degree in the field of "Free Graphics – Advertising Graphics". The unplanned emigration to Germany in 1986 represented a significant personal upheaval for Maria Jo Klinger, like a bend in a straight line. However, this caesura had a very positive effect on her artistic development. She succeeded in developing her own artistic language beyond the academic canon. The Americans Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Jones inspired her works. The works shown in the exhibition were created between 2009 and 2016 and document her artistic development. By means of a juxtaposition of linear forms of different widths, their diffusivity creates an enormous effect in terms of depth. The painted lines of earlier works seem to emerge from an unidentifiable place and as such, they speak an apparent symbolic language to the observer. The earlier works additionally told biographical stories that also dealt with war and border experiences as pictorial themes. She often worked on these in cycles. The new works demonstrate her claim that she is not stagnating. She remains true to the narrative, but it loses its dominance. It should no longer be in the foreground. Currently, the artist has said goodbye to pure content, and she allows the strong emotionality of her earlier works to recede into the background. In the current paintings, form and colour now push themselves into the foreground. The artist discovers space, and moves to the inside. The works therefore seem more closed and calmer. It seems as if M Jo Klinger is in search of a contemplative pictorial language. We are curious to see what happens next.