THE ARTIST - FRANK BALVE
Frank Balve's visual language is explicit. Its basic tone is gloomy, its articulation clear, its effect disturbing. Balve designs his images with paint, builds them out of stone or paper, stages them for the camera, captures them in language. In site-specific installations, often on a museum scale, he combines autonomous objects and specially created works to create experiential spaces in which the viewer must engage physically and mentally with all their senses. The program of these theatrically conceived spaces - in the sense of Michael Fried - ranges from current social issues such as the surveillance state or the role of the media to oppressive scenarios of violence an d surreal, nightmarish scenes that draw on the artist's personal memories. The starting point for Frank Balve's work is often literary works from Dante to the Marquis de Sade, mythological and biblical material or masterpieces of classical panel painting, which he appropriates in a process of unbiased exploration and translates into his visual language.
PAINTINGS
Frank Balve's paintings are characterized by clear contours, intense colors and a disturbing clarity. In his large-format panel paintings, he combines monochrome areas of color with abstract splashes created by performative throwing. A seemingly positive appropriation of old masterpieces is transformed into a deconstructive, violent confrontation through deliberate processes of change. Balve's works are not only visually provocative, but also challenge the viewer to enter into showcase situations behind which oppressive, theatrical spaces extend.
INSTALLATION
Frank Balve creates experiential spaces that unfold a unique, physical presence in his installations. Based on literary models and a critical examination of society, he creates complex structures. His works, such as "bloc" or "The Hide," place the viewer in an oppressive setting between surveillance and personal memories. By combining visual and acoustic stimuli, Balve creates a "radius of perception" that turns the installations into accessible psychograms. A tightrope walk between consumption and emotional irritation.
SCULPTURE | PLASTIC
Frank Balve's sculptures are a fascinating fusion of form and material. Using a specially developed process, they are created from finely chopped cellulose, which is applied in up to one hundred layers. The blossom-white or pitch-black surfaces exert a strong visual and tactile appeal. Balve's artworks, like his paintings, are subject to deliberate processes of change. His sculptures merge with installations, photographs and videos to create an impressive overall composition that draws the viewer into a multi-sensory space of experience.
PHOTOGRAPHY | VIDEO WORK
With their surreal, nightmarish images, Frank Balve's photographic series suggest dark associations with individual fears and violent scenarios. Although the viewer is tempted to establish a coherent story or at least connections between them, their meaning ultimately remains enigmatic. The artist often uses photography as a metaphor for memories. Collages further deconstruct these already shadowy images.
