Matani

"Connection between content and form"

01.10.2002 - 30.11.2002

Since the middle of October, the latest works by the Königshofen artist and publisher Elmar Hauck have been accessible to the public in the LAUDA FabrikGalerie. Under his pseudonym of Matani, Elmar Hauck has acquired a considerable reputation. Publications in calendars, periodicals and other international press articles prove this. Anyone who knows Elmar Hauck from previous times knows that he is inspired by the culture of the Far East. If you think of Asiatic art, you above all think of the varied design of the characters. Calligraphy has a high reputation all over Asia. There, writing is not only regarded as a means to an end. Thanks to its demanding aesthetics, each individual character has an expressive power over and above the mere meaning of a word. The close connection between content and form, as expressed in Chinese calligraphy for example, has inspired a number of artists. In the real sense of the word, calligraphy is an abstract picture which has an effect on the observer. Matani understands characters as signatures. Matani's character-like and abstract image compositions breathe a ceremonial calmness - on the other hand, they generate dynamic movement, play and seriousness. Chaos and order correspond without compulsion - in all freedom. Heavy things are effortlessly made to hover. Formally, the pictures are reduced to the essentials. But this thriftiness is increased to the highest possible effect by a distinctly subtle design of the pictures. Matani's unique picture language is unmistakable - but the artist points out yet another, essential element of his signatures: "... a picture must contain something which has not been painted into it." In any case, his painting style is unique in contemporary art. According to Matani, art is "nowadays the only means remaining which is able to give people something in its freedom, in its closeness and its visionary character, where all other systems have failed in the meantime. That is: peace as nourishment for the soul and new impulses as a design of the future." As a manager and finder of ideas, Elmar Hauck convincingly transfers this philosophy to his work in the "Aquarell" publishing house. In Königshofen, calendars become cult objects, are styled to so-called "signs of the time" under the pseudonym of "Matani". Such an "artistic sign of the time" goes all over the world from the LAUDA FabrikGalerie - in the form of such a wonderful calendar. For example, leading companies have already realised that art is basically predestined to transmit positive advertising signals. About seven different calendars by Matani appear every year, with paintings, photographs and texts by him personally.

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