Detlef Kappeler
Menshen / Men
1993

About the Item

Detlef Kappeler was born in the city of Stettin, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in Germany in 1938. In 1945, during World War II, his family left the city fleeing the war offensive, moving to Schwerin to move, shortly after, to the countryside. of refugees from Schleswig - Holstein where they would stay for two years after which they would finally arrive in Hamburg. This flight influenced Kappeler and has been constantly in his works.2 In 1952, he began to attend the Center for Fine Arts in Hamburg 3 and after his baccalaureate and six months of work in the port of Hamburg, Kappeler decided to study Architecture beginning his studies in 1958.3 In the 60s he was influenced by the Pop Art, thereby creating something different that would define what he would be as an artist in these years. 4 After graduating as an architect, Kappeler obtained an art prize from the State of Lower Saxony in 1966 and began his studies at the Higher School of Fine Arts from Hamburg. He works in New York, Bombay, Vietnam, Biafra and Paris, very significant places politically in the 60s. 5 He deals with topics such as Biafra or Vietnam in his works and in 1971 it will be exhibited at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg. In 1972 and 1973 he was awarded two scholarships: the first by the "Cité internationale des arts" in Paris and the other by the Lichtwark Prize, from the city of Hamburg.6 In 1974, Kappeler was appointed Professor of Painting and Graphics at the University of Hannover. 7 In addition to teaching, he is an active participant in political circles where topics such as military rearmament, nuclear energy or ecology are discussed. He produces related painting cycles such as "Projekt Nordholz" and "Eismeerzyklos". Later, Kappeler will focus his works on people who, due to their democratic positions in terms of human rights and freedom of expression, have been victims of justice. Thus, cycles referring to Theodor Lessing and Carl von Ossietzky were born. In 1985, the artist created a large-format work that caused a great discussion in Germany,8 since it was prohibited from exhibiting it at the University of Hannover, for which it had been created. This work made reference to Theodor Lessing and is currently in the lobby of another public institution, the Volkshochschule in the capital of Lower Saxony.9 After the Auf der Suche exhibition at the Joan Gaspar Gallery in Barcelona in 1994, Detlef Kappeler established his studio in this city and followed part of his work from there. “With his pictorial work, especially with his “Plásticas para el Espacio”, he reacts to postmodern currents in the same way as to deconstructivist ideas. It is here where cycles such as "Raum" or "Transparencies" are carried out. He works during this time between Barcelona and Butjadingen on the North Sea and continues to hold the chair at the University of Hannover. Likewise, the change that occurs when he leaves his professorship and perceives his potential spatial and personal mobility, finally pivoting between his property on the North Sea in Germany and the Ciutat Vella in Barcelona and, later, the Galician coast, make engine to promote creation in this that for other critics is seen as a new stage in his life also as an artist10 Using abstraction and reduction or simplification, as well as lighter effects of structure and color in his compositions, he makes they are creations of increased quality.10 He currently lives and works in Chorente, Mugía (La Coruña) and focuses his work on questions about the meaning of existence.2 Antón Castro, would write for the catalog of the exhibition El fin del camino11 (2010): "His work of him emblematizes an agonizing feeling of life, perhaps the singular image of marine romanticism." Likewise, Castro recognizes in his works the Pollockian influence but, more notably, German Expressionism.12

Creator:
Detlef Kappeler (1938, Polish)
Creation Year:
1993
Dimensions:
Height: 27.56 in (70 cm)Width: 39.38 in (100 cm)
More Editions & Sizes:
70 × 100 cmPrice: $14,918
Medium:
Oil,Tempera
Movement & Style:
Abstract
Period:
1990-1999
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Barcelona, ES
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1787212261602

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