Conny Müscher - Moderne Malerei im Dialog

The application of the paint follows a dialogue with my inner mood. I respond to what the brush, spatula and movement tell me.

It is a dialogue between emotion and intellect, a passionate confrontation between the two halves of the brain. Unconsciously, yet at every moment exposed to the same artistic inspiration and material, Conny Muescher explores the polarities of the outer and the inner, the boundless and the restricted, the superficial and the profound experience, which ultimately manifests itself in a sense of physical identity.(Read more)

The application of the paint follows a dialogue with my inner mood. I respond to what the brush, spatula and movement tell me.

It is a dialogue between emotion and intellect, a passionate confrontation between the two halves of the brain. Unconsciously, yet at every moment exposed to the same artistic inspiration and material, Conny Muescher explores the polarities of the outer and the inner, the boundless and the restricted, the superficial and the profound experience, which ultimately manifests itself in a sense of physical identity.

In the field of art, dialogue describes not only the communication between the viewer and the artwork, but more importantly between an artist and their work. In addition, the uniqueness that Conny Muescher's works appear in pairs opens up another communicative dimension: the dialogue between two works. In a single process, two paintings are created synchronously, which only become a cohesive unit when changing their order and orientation after the painting process has been completed. At that moment order and chaos are revealed and merge into unity. The whole composition then expresses movement and gives the viewer an impression of fluidity. In Conny Muescher's body-landscapes, fragmentary yet certainly feminine figural elements meet within an undefined space.

Dialogos (Greek), a powerful word, initially sounds like a confrontation yet contradictorily gentle. Causal questions of feeling and intellect, evolvements from the past to the future, dissolved in inner dialogues that ultimately lead to one's own existence. Whereas in the beginning Conny Muescher used to draw rather closed and contoured, only partially opened figures, her more recent works tend to break up these boundaries. Dissolving form and form development, merging and assimilation, are now at the focus of her work.

Solo exhibition at the Gallery for Contemporary Art Amuthon-Art, Emden 2015

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What is life? What is its essence? Who are we humans? These core questions that inspire the works of the artist Conny Muescher coincide with the theme of femininity, but as something that is only indirectly tangible. Her paintings used to be characterized by a very expressive brushstroke, strong and vivid colors as well as a figurative depiction of typified images of women. This however has given way to a more abstract form of expression that demands more profound relations. With balanced areal and linear, almost calligraphic structures, she now creates moving, even dancing forms, which in their soft, curved shapes, on one hand refer to the female body...here a shoulder, there a hip or a part of a breast. (Read more)

On the other hand, she makes reference to the flow of life, to something that progresses eternally, to something that dissolves and begins again without interruption. Even angular forms appear in her compositions and create an interplay with the curves, a give and take of rough, perhaps male and soft, more feminine elements. With this style of painting the artist breaks down the limitations of our spatial consciousness.

The human shape, especially the female body, has always been an object of artistic interest. The women's beauty, her secrets and her appeal have been expressed by painters, graphic artists and sculptors in their quest for a feminine ideal, in a great variety of variations: Since the Middle Ages, at first still subject to Christian conception, then more individual, more lively, more sensual and in the 20th century eventually more objective and abstract. For example, de Kooning's portraits of women from the 1960s, which inspired the artist, give rise to an artistic force of it's own in the form of a painting style that results in more uncontrolled structures. This same approach also gives the works of Conny Muescher a strong expression. According to Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, De Kooning's initial thesis was that women are less emotionally torn than men and appear more self-contained and self-sufficient. In his works their bodies become abstract and merge with their surroundings. Lines, drops, broad brushstrokes and simple streaks break through each other and create moments of movement.

The same goes for Conny Muescher. Lines, surfaces, structures and body shapes are only hinted at. Many lines, whether tender, strong or simply full of verve, eventually turn out to be parts of the female body and some painted areas to be structures od a landscape. But nothing reveals itself directly. You have to look closely, get involved in the movement, the rhythm and flow of the interplay between colours and forms. Fragmentary figural elements and breaking lanes of color alternate with strongly or weakly pronounced lines and splashes. Transparency is created. The figures are detached from the here and now of everyday life.² In ever new combinations and in relation to new contexts, thoughts and emotions, the familiarity of the straight forms, i.e. the complete female figures, is broken. They are always related to the big picture, which is life.

The Greek titles of Muescher's works support the multifacetedness. On one hand, they point to the her strong ties to Greece, where she regularly spends several months a year. On the other hand, the titles connect to complex topics. For example in Allagis - Renewal, the title means something that has fallen apart is reassembled, something that has faded blossoms anew, winter gives way to spring, interpersonal relationships are renewed, and the woman is, so to speak, also subjected to regular renewal. The cycle of life, becoming and passing away, is also reflected by this. Green is considered a calming colour and brings something fresh and harmonious along with it. It represents the life of nature and fertility. It is complemented by a wide range of shades of blue. This colour is associated with relaxation and meditation, but also symbolizes vastness and distance, although it is in the foreground. These colours break through the sandy tone of the background, emerge in the foreground, at first very freely and lightly, moving towards and around each other, not yet target-oriented. Then, in the right half of the painting, they condense, orientate themselves towards each other in their movements and enter into a dialogue with each other. Something takes shape, becomes more structured and light penetrates the sand-colored area. Renewal. Dark, very fine, delicate lines appear in the middle of all these wide brush strokes. Here a breast can be seen, there an angled leg. The woman is part of this whole landscape, and her very own soulscape is hinted at. The body or it's parts, analogous to the areal landscape, in turn become the bodyscape.

Other examples of complex subjects are the work titles Pleksimo - entanglements, which can be associated with relationships, or Avlasia - harmlessness, which title ironically opposes the depiction of knives and axes. The forms are always "made to vibrate, expand, open up and enter into new connections".³ They become liberated in their detachment from rigid structures. What is depicted is thus unambiguously ambiguous, tangible and intangible. Female curves are recognizable, but in their floating weightlessness and merging with indeterminate vegetative forms they change and abstract the obvious for the viewer. It is left to the latter to stick to familiar forms, find orientation on the surface and to allow for his own interpretation.

Foreground and background are always separate, yet they seem to move and permeate each other. The result is an almost transparent surface in a space that is, however, characterized by a lack of space. This gives the impression of looking into an ultrasound image. The semicircular arrangement of the scraped speckles gives rise to this association. Both here and there it becomes visible what is normally not visible at all and movement manifests itself. Movement is an element with which the artist animates her work. The brush leading hand moves intuitively, guided rather by the heart than by the mind. Painting becomes, one could say, a meditative process, just like the vital inhalation and exhalation, if one consciously concentrates on it.

The works mostly come as diptych, whether in the series Oceano, Pselion, Ipervolis or Allagis etc.. The artist always works on two paintings in parallel. In the process, a relationship automatically develops between the two works. They match. Open and closed forms as well as chaos and order enter into a dialogue. This originates from our two differently working brain hemispheres. The right side of the brain is mostly responsible for creativity and intuition as well as for the perception of space, whereas the left side is responsible for logical and analytical, i.e. systematic thought processes and the perception of time. However, both hemispheres must communicate well with each other in order to achieve optimal performance. The painted pairs of Conny Muescher work in the same way. They could also be viewed individually. But only as a unit do they form a complete picture, the elements of which are related to each other. However, the parallel painting process does not inevitably allow the two works to exist in their original order and orientation. Top and bottom are not strictly defined. They are often rotated, rearranged or both, in order to create a compositionally balanced whole and to satisfy the emotional side of the brain. At the same time past, present and future merge with the final compositional change, as space and time become meaningless.

Conny Muescher spends much of her time in Greece every year. The surroundings and working environment are completely different from her studio in Leer. The influence on her works is evident, even though the artist began to prefer the more subtle style of painting already beforehand. Changing between a life that is impacted by the brightness of the southern hemisphere and a life that takes place in the North, which appears quite dark and heavy in comparison, becomes noticeable in her works again and again. Muescher says:

»At first, there was a feeling of lightness when being there and of heaviness when being here, detached from social structures - I had given up my job - is what it felt like by me personally. Later, both there and here, I felt the cyclically recurring process of the interplay between complementary polarities - i.e. a superficial and a profound quality - as aspects of spiritual wholeness, [...].«⁴

The influence of the South is not only noticeable in the free, light and delicate compositions and thus conveys sun, freedom, peace and a contrast to today's mostly stressful everyday life. Changes are also noticeable in the choice of colours. The earlier depictions of women were initially characterised by extremely strong red, orange, yellow and blue tones. The dialogue with the viewer was created through eye contact with the figures. Now the colours are much lighter and softer, as are the brush, knife and spatula strokes. The use of colour is also limited to two dominant colours in the foreground and valeuristic colours in the background. The lightness associated with the mediterranean region is reflected in this way, even when the artist paints in her German studio during the dreary winter months. The woman as a figure becomes less definite, more abstract, more generic. But even without direct eye contact a feeling of dialogue with the painting emerges. No longer bound to, but still in connection with certain body contours, the curved lines seem to be independent and to extend through all areas of the painting. The space dissolves and the perceived becomes the feeling. Just let your intuitive half of the brain guide you.

1 Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, Women. Picasso, Beckmann, de Kooning, Munich 2012, p. 13.
2 Muescher, Dec. 2007.
3 Muescher, Nov. 2007.
4 Muescher, Aug. 2006.
Introduction to the exhibition on 06.04.03 in Driever, Gulfhaus Dartein

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Analogia, that is the title of the exhibition. Analogia, a sonorous word. A look at the dictionary reveals: Analogy- Relationship between things, ideas and complex systems that coincide in certain ways... Similarity, the congruence of certain characteristics, without presupposing the same. Analogia- a beautiful word ..., but do I understand? What should I look for here? What to expect? Let us have a look around, let us get closer. (Read more)

Let us be enticed by the colours. In Conny Muescher's paintings they are sometimes very delicate, bright, translucent, finely supportive. Then again they appear powerful, set in contrast and provocatively potent. Brushes, painting knives and spatulas wipe, layer, set accents or produce flat, pasty, even spotty surfaces and then again transparent, sometimes completely omitting parts of the canvas. The result is movement, rhythm, wild and only seemingly tamed, a lively colour landscape that changes as you look at it.

Bodies, individually or as a group, complement the oceanic stream. They are coloured volumes or added contours that are often broken, even shaken. Even if the contour in Conny Muescher's paintings only seems fragmentary, it is female, without doubt, quite certain. In this way a body landscape in perfect mimicry can stand its ground against the colour landscape with just a few lines. Analogia - an interplay of the pressure to select and adapt and opportunities for evolution.

You may have noticed at first glance that often two works with obvious similarities are placed next to each other and look like a pair. Each of these two paintings was created synchronously in a single working process, lying next to each other, one left and the other right - each on its own, but at the same moment exposed to the same artistic momentum and material. Suppose - admittingly simplifying the discoveries of neuroscience - the left hemisphere of the brain, the orderingly structuring hemisphere, is in particular responsible for the image on the right during the development process, let us also assume that the right half of the brain, the chaotically intuitive brain, has contributed substantially to the left painting... despite all similarity, analogy - how should the paintings differ? Do they correspond with each other? Which half of the brain was leading the brush in each case?

Certainly, the brain is an organ that is always involved in all activities as a whole! And yet one hemisphere is more trained, more pronounced, because in the daily routine it is more successful, namely the left hemisphere which predominantly controls language and ordering logical processes. Is this same principle also relevant to the artistic process? Can this priciple of separation be overcome in the artistic process? And how do we look at the artwork? Is your left brain better trained than your intuitive, chaotic right? Analogia- to see the similar and yet to detect the differences, to become aware of them, is what the artist invites us to do. The two paintings as a pair - does it only exist in twos, as an inseparable unit? Or does each painting stand on its own, as a whole? You decide - as in real life - whether you consider a pair to be inseparable or you see them as two that have entered into a dialogue in order to find and absorb the differences that are discovered in the other, and then become whole for themselves.

Analogia- experience is only possible when something similar returns, which anchors us in the disturbing new. Out of this anchorage we can open ourselves to the new and compare it with the familiar. Only by comparison does the difference become apparent, making it tangible and thus an experience. Conny Muescher has never refused that experience. Bitterness, cynicism, harsh commentary and ironic self-denial do not suit an artist who has set out on a radical confrontation with herself, in her role as painter and woman in a society that is often hostile to life. Academic stays in the luminous south of Europe and her decision in 2004 to spend much of the year in Greece as a freelance artist, have substantially influenced her artwork. Archetypal aspects, which have passed through Greek mythology into mankinds supertemporal memory, are contrasted in Conny Muescher's works with today's search for a gender-specific, holistic existence.

Analogia - a beautiful, melodious word. Just let it sound and forget everything I have said within the last minutes. Embrace Muescher's paintings as a challenge to your very own self-awareness. What holds true for the literary text also holds true for the painting: It is of many dimensions, it is a web of quotations, and like the poet, the painter also makes use of a great variety of words. There is no meaning in it by itself. Only we, as viewers, can discover the meaning. This great scope for different possibilities of interpretation is what Conny Muescher allows for. Her works desire, even demand a dialogue, and only through us do they acquire a meaning.

Introduction to the exhibition on 19.11.09 in Achim, Bremische Volksbank

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