About the work of Axel Becker

Karin Scheuermann (2020)

The artist Axel Becker, born in 1965 in Frankfurt, in his numerous exhibitions throughout Europe brings his works to dialogue with one another and with the canon of art history. The minimalist collage-like paintings and massive fiberglass sculptures alternate between abstraction and figuration. With reduced speech of colours and shapes, and focused on materials and shaping surfaces, these works are codes for a contemplative counter-draft to worldly reality.

Painting

Axel Becker's paintings clearly belong to the tradition of abstract-constructivist painting, whose stylistic elements and colour palette he adapts and transfers to the present. For Becker, awarded this year for his abstract work "Orange Square" (2019) as a semi-finalist at the Art-Box Zürich, the Bauhaus was also a source of inspiration and a starting point for dealing with "classics" and the question of their meaning in the context of contemporary art creation and today’s reception of art.

Becker's minimalist-monochrome works are not to be read self-referentially, but as a conscious counter-draft of the present, whose overflowing digitality is increasingly opposed to haptic experiences and contemplative moments. Becker sees his works as a window to introspection. The coloured surfaces and clear shapes are intended to bring people into balance and put them into a contemplative state: "Minimalism is meditation," says Axel Becker. The artist in the same way sees the surfaces that appear monochrome to the human eye, such as desert, forest or sea, as an (unconscious) drive for people to retreat into nature.

Although not visible in the works, in Becker's abstract, minimalist works, the human being is always the focus.

It is no coincidence that the classical element water, in its various forms and states of aggregation, is the theme of the series "Elements". Small, molten metal plates are applied to boldly monochrome blue, grey or red surfaces, which form a raised surface and transfer the works into the space. The glittering drops seem to follow the laws of physics. Becker, though, leaves out what affects the water and sets it in motion, but one can easily follow the direction of the flow, its speed and dynamics on the canvas. Axel Becker manages to convey the sounds of water in his paintings; the steady rippling of a waterfall ("Waterfall Blue", 2019), whose drops eventually compact in order to disperse again, the spraying of individual drops ("Splash", 2019) or the rattle of ice ("Icicle", 2018).

Objects: "The Beginning"

The fiberglass sculptures initially appear as a counterpoint. "Beginnings I-V" rely on classic, three-dimensional representations of the human body. The front and back are equivalent and form the respective counterform. Massive, organic and with the hint of male and female principles, "The Beginning" evokes associations related to the myth of creation and unification as the beginning of all life.

But while individual expression, transformation and disintegration are inherent to the human body and recurring object of contemporary sculpture, Axel Becker’s monochrome sculptures signal constancy, uniformity and invulnerability. These bodies are neither idealized nor the cultural references are ascribed to them.

In line with his paintings and reliefs, in “The Beginning“, Becker places a central focus on material and surface. The skin of the sculptures does not show any incisions or traces of the creation process, instead, through the repeated application of layers of paint, it becomes a perfectly smooth and shiny shell. The surface reflects the light from the environment, allowing the rich, distinctive colour of the respective sculpture (white, red, green, blue) to appear in various shades. At the same time, the main concern of Axel Becker is that the sculpture and the observer interact through these reflections and that the observer, by observing the "The Beginning", becomes aware of his own physicality.

"The Beginning I" was created during a working visit to prof. Josip Diminić in Croatia and represents the first sculpture created by Axel Becker in general. "The Beginning", the negative of which Becker handcrafted in layers from a styrofoam cube, marks the turning point in his work. He leaves two-dimensional space and for the first time takes on the human body, formally and thematically.

Working mode

Since the beginning of his artistic career, almost 20 years ago, experimenting has played a key role in the art of Axel Becker. He tests different styles, mixes them together and explores how much experimentation is possible within his minimalist approach, without losing his own signature. Axel Becker works without archives, sketches or memo boards. His works are created intuitively and spontaneously. In that process, the subject and the choice of material go hand in hand. A large part of his inspiration comes from everyday life and the art world.

The works of the past five years are characterized by new techniques and themes, equally following the desire for works of art to accompany people in their everyday lives and bring them back to themselves.

News

Currently Axel Becker is experimenting with elements of pop art. Furthermore, he is working on a new series of objects with the focus on the historic nails of the Black Forest Railway. These are the first works with concrete historical references. At the same time, Becker is developing a sculpture made of carbon that will be presented at the Florence Biennale in October 2021.

Axel Becker's works can be seen in numerous exhibitions at home and abroad. The following exhibitions are currently planned (status: October 2020):

• 14.10.-18.10.2020/ Zagreb-Art Fair, Zagreb/Croatia
• 30.10.-01.11.2020/ Frankfurt-Discovery Art Fair, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
• 32. Stuttgarter Kunstausstellung in Stuttgart, Bad Cannstatt, Germany
• 01.2021/ Dresden-Neue Art, Dresden, Germany
• 02.2021/ Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia in Stuttgart, Germany
• 03.2021/ Sindelfingen-Art Messe, Sindelfingen, Germany
• 07.2022/ Württemberg Art Association in Stuttgart - exhibition of one object, Stuttgart, Germany
• 08.2021/ Bogensperk Castle Museum/Gallery, near Ljubljana, Slovenia
• 23.10.-31.10.2021/ Florence Biennale, Italy
• 04-05/2022, City Museum in Labin, Croatia
• 2022/ Exhibition in a gallery in Venice/Italy
• 2021/ 33. Stuttgarter Kunstausstellung in Stuttgart, Bad Cannstatt, Germany
• 08.2023/ Bogensperk Castle Museum/Gallery, near Ljubljana, Slovenia