PROJECT BLACK PERIOD - Arthothek Upgrade - LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen

PROJECT BLACK PERIOD – Arthothek Upgrade

June 18, 2020

A blog post by Sarah Bauer
Art for everyone and a stage for every artist!

“I went there in sweatpants with a laundry basket full of pictures”

Markus von Frieling in front of one of his works, 2020 © Sarah Bauer

It's black. Dark. And didn't a face just appear on the paper? Now it's gone again.

Markus von Frieling grins mischievously, but immediately tries to hide it. Because his art project "PROJECTBLACKPERIOD" is not funny. For seven years, the artist has been working on expressive, abstract and dark painting. It almost sounds like dark magic. Until now, his exhibition space has been the Internet. An Instagram gallery, a website. And anyway. He is actually an educator and not Picasso. Until he was discovered by Niksan Rajaratnam, who entered the LUDWIGGALERIE for the first time many years ago as a student in the youth project LUDWIG CHARTS and actually had nothing to do with art.

In front of the Artothek, 2020 © Sarah Bauer

An amazing story about how an exhibition can be created without art historians, jurors and inhibitions. With an artist who has neither won any prizes nor has a big name or a long list of publications. Just talent - and the luck of being in the right place at the right time with the right people.

"I know Markus from sports," says Niksan. "He told me in passing that he makes art." As a teenager, Niksan liked the LUDWIG CHARTS museum education project in Oberhausen Castle so much that he stayed after it ended and has been volunteering for the gallery ever since. Museums are boring for young people! "Niksan has become a real institution here," says the designer and museum educator Ursula Bendorf-Depenbrock enthusiastically. Niksan gives her a sideways glance over his large glasses. He doesn't want to give autographs straight away, he just does it all because he genuinely enjoys it.

In front of the Artothek, 2020 © Sarah Bauer

"In any case, I thought it was cool that Markus said he was making art. So I took a look at the work and thought, okay, that looks really good and would fit in really well with the LUDWIGGALERIE!" remembers Niksan.

When he came to Ursula Bendorf-Depenbrock with his idea, she was immediately open to it. And a short time later, Markus von Frieling came to the LUDWIGGALERIE art library, where interested parties can normally borrow works of art once a month. "I went there in sweatpants with a laundry basket full of pictures," he says, running his hand through his long hair.

No pinstripe suit, no champagne, no curator. Art and artists. Raw. Broken down to what is real. "I was really excited. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of Ulla with my suggestion," admits Niksan, looking away. "Then she was blown away."

Markus von Frieling in front of the Artothek, 2020 © Sarah Bauer

Ursula Bendorf Depenbrock thought for a moment, looking back and forth between Niksan, the pictures by Markus von Frieling and the rooms.

“The art library is getting an update? Upgrade?” she then discussed with Niksan.

And suddenly a whole new format “Art.Upgrade_2020" was born. A new exhibition series in the Artothek. Right next to the halls of the LUDWIGGALERIE, where Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter have hung. With artists who are not yet big names - like Markus von Frieling. Suggested and selected by people who are deliberately not art experts.

This is where intern Jasmin Thormählen came in. “I like to look through, sort, frame and plan the first ‘Art.Upgrade_2020” in the art library,” Jasmin announced.

The first exhibition is “PROJECTBLACKPERIOD”. “If it works out, it would be great if we could present an artist at least once a year in the new “Art.Upgrade_2020” in the art library of the LUDWIGGALERIE,” says Ursula Bendorf-Depenbrock happily.

Markus von Frieling only discovered his passion for art because he gave up his old job. "Until I was 27, I worked as a system restaurateur for a large fast food chain. But that just wasn't it. I quit and started training again. As a teacher."

During his training, a teacher suddenly hands him a spatula and paint while he is doing an assignment. Go ahead. Create something with it. Markus discovers a personal passion. Since then, he has been working in his free time with black acrylic paint, which he applies with a spatula to paper no larger than A4. He then scans the work and changes the reference values in Gimp until the contrast is right for the artist. In the end, the work is therefore partly analogue and partly digital.

"Even as a young person, I was involved with graffiti and comics a lot," reports Markus von Frieling. "This style impressed me visually." His works of art now look a bit like the famous Rorschach tests, with which the psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach, born in 1884, showed patients shadowy images in which they were supposed to describe and recognize things.

In fact, new figures, shapes and outlines are constantly appearing before the viewer's eyes. Didn't a face just appear on the paper? Now it's gone again.

"Beautiful Pieces of Darkness" is the subtitle of the exhibition. "I admit, I sometimes have a certain dark mood," explains Markus. "I carry it around with me until I can let it out in my art. It's my outlet."

"I'm excited to see how visitors react. But first I'll do this exhibition here!"

Ursula Bendorf-Depenbrock and Jasmin Thormählen have already framed the pictures. They are now looking forward to the presentation on June 20 and 21 from 11 a.m. to 18 p.m.