Dietmar Brixy pays tribute to Marco Polo with an exhibition in Venice

In conjunction with the 60th Venice Art Biennale, German artist Dietmar Brixy is exhibiting his works in Venice in the exhibition “The Description of the World” curated by Tayfun Belgin, which can be visited from Aug. 24 to Sept. 21, 2024 at the Sansovinian Hall of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in St. Mark’s Square. The title of the exhibition refers to the work of traveler Marco Polo ’s The Million, whose 700th anniversary of his death occurs this year and whose figure is paid tribute in the documentary exhibition, set up in the Doge’s Palace in Venice, entitled “The Worlds of Marco Polo. The journey of a 13th-century Venetian merchant.” Brixy honors the anniversary by choosing to remember the traveling Marco Polo with a “reading” of the world in a contemporary key, a powerful operation thanks to the evocative power of the image that the Mannheim-based artist entrusts to the colors of his works. Brixy’s travels have taken him to various European countries, as well as to Malaysia, Mexico, India, Bali, Thailand, the Seichelles and the United States of America, managing over the years to create a unique approach to representing his experiences and perception with his artworks. In Venice, he will exhibit a mix of works chosen from the art series "Happy, " “Reflect” and “Journey” and various Tondi, known as "Bamboo Bubbles. "

Like a world map showing continents, oceans and the course of the Earth’s rotation, the circular images illustrate the permanent change of life. They symbolize the growth and decay of nature, its cycles, but also the diversity of the world and the diversity of cultures and identities that come together in a harmonious collage. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a three-meter-high octagonal installation Endless Journey, created especially for the exhibition. On eight panels, the artist ignites a veritable firework of colors and shapes in a vast walkable landscape, allowing visitors to experience his art in a completely new spatial way. Its octagonal floor plan echoes the shape and size of the Titian painting above it.

The exhibition also belongs to an exhibition project titled "At Home Abroad, " which consists of four consecutive exhibitions by contemporary artists in the Sansovinian Hall who, in adherence to the theme of the 60th Venice Art Biennale-“Foreigners Everywhere” -address the issues of being a foreigner in an artistic way. The art project was created by organizer Dirk Geuer in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. Born in 1961 in Mannheim, Germany, Dietmar Brixy trained at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe and since 1991 has been pursuing a very successful career as an independent artist. His works have been exhibited in renowned museums and are also featured internationally in galleries and art fairs including France, the U.S.D.A. and South Korea, and are in important institutional and private art collections. Brixy’s expressive compositions are characterized by vibrant colors, which he applies to the canvas with brushes, palette knives, combs and with his bare hands. The multilayered textures, color fields and shapes appear in their entirety like a kaleidoscope: it is as if Brixy transcends the boundaries of reality. The artist finds his inspiration in nature, whether in his paradise garden in Mannheim or in distant regions of the world. On the Canary Island of La Palma, for example, the artist discovered the fig leaf, which he applies to the canvas and later removes from the layer of impasto color. “My painting world must be open to the viewer in terms of legibility,” is how Brixy formulates the demands he places on his art. After preparing the canvas with black, an action painting phase follows, during which the brush leaves random traces of color on the canvas. She then applies the colored marks by hand. Using various tools, Brixy works the color, mixes it, and applies it directly to the paint surface from tubes or buckets. The artist repeatedly checks the results, weighs them, and intervenes. The depth and intensity of color, surface saturation and gaps, repetitions or singular appearances attract his attention and stimulate spontaneous reactions in his experimental mind.

“Exactly like the writings of Marco Polo,” comments organizer Dirk Geuer, “The brightly colored works of artist Dietmar Brixy invite the viewer to confront the world as a place of encounter and coexistence.”

“Dietmar Brixy presents us with a painting that we perceive as a stage. He takes us by the hand and leads us into this universe in which by turning our gaze from left to right and from top to bottom, we find our gaze caught in the center of the painting and in a fantastic place. This powerful chromatic rhythm and multitude of colors drawn from nature and its infinite phenomena initially leaves us speechless,” adds curator Belgin.

“They add a new exegetical challenge, in addition to the one that for centuries the paintings in the Sansovinian Hall, with their at first sight mysterious symbols, have imposed on visitors,” adds Stefano Trovato, director of the Marciana Library in Venice.

“For me, the process is always in the foreground. I want to be surprised. I want to surrender myself unreservedly to the magic of creating the painting,” is how the Artist describes his approach to art.

Image: Dietmar Brixy, Journey (2022; oil on canvas, 160 x 210 cm)

Dietmar Brixy pays tribute to Marco Polo with an exhibition in Venice

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