Review artwork number 4

Exhibition "MATER" Gallery M.A.D.S. Milan 13 - 17 November 2020

The paintings by Alexandra Köhl express the multiplicity of the artist’s feelings through a skillful use of color, which is spread with large and scratched strokes and becomes the undisputed protagonist of her canvases. At first glance, her artwork Picture number 4 could appear similar to her other abstract paintings, due to a use of color that defines the space and Alexandra’s tendency to mark the composition with a number but not with a title.

Nevertheless, this work introduces an unusual detail for the artist: the figurative element. By interpreting the concept chosen for this exhibition, Alexandra introduces the theme of motherhood placing two figures in the middle of the composition and making them the focus of the painting. Tight in an embrace that reminds a dance, they are protected by something like a domed ceiling, whose form reminds a house or, extending etaphorically its meaning, that kind of protection and safety that only motherly love can give. The artist reproduces her inner sensations through a technique full of vibrant and energetic brushstrokes, that reminds the painting movement of Action Painting. Just like the artists of the New York School, Alexandra translates the creative strength expressed by her hand on the canvas into an image. The magical atmosphere typical of her paintings, which pervades even Picture number 4, derives exactly from this unusual and instinctive creative method. When the artist starts painting, she doesn’t know in advance the result of her composition to the point of being astonished once finished. Alexandra’s style reveals her ability to perfectly combine abstractionism, which reveals itself in the choice of tones, that create an elegant visual experience, and action painting, evident in the use of an emotional and instinctive gesture.

Art Curator Marta Graziano

Review artwork number 13

Colour is a power which directly influences the soul

(Wassily Kandinsky)

Alexandra Köhl is a Polish autodidactic artist emigrated to Germany with her parents at the beginning of the nineties. Daughter of a painter, she has grown experimenting from an early age all sorts of artistic techniques but she could follow her passion only at the turn of the millennium. Since then she has begun to express herself through abstract pictures emerging from the deepest of her soul: without a motif or a name but marked only by a number, her artworks reproduce the variety and multiplicity of the artist’s feelings through vibrant and energetic brushstrokes.

Nevertheless, the emotional component is balanced by Alexandra’s choice to mark the paintings with a numerical progression, by approaching thus her vision to that of Max Bill, according to whom art can only be generated by a rational thought able to impose order on emotions.

In her painting #013, the undisputed protagonist is colour, sometimes spread with large and scratched strokes, other times through rapid touches. The use of colour defines the space: spread through overlapping layers it prefers the cold tones of purple and light blue with the addition of some warm tones creating a light contrast and immerging the viewer in an elegant and delicate visual experience.

Art Historian and Art Curator Marta Graziano