The new Times Stefan Strumbel

Stefan Strumbel (b. 1979, Offenburg, DE) presents his fourth solo exhibition “The New Times” with Ruttkowski;68 in New York.

Each of his diverse bodies of work explores and processes various media and materials. Transforming their origins and embedded associations, emotions and values into new aesthetics, Strumbel intentionally expands their room of resonance. Less as specific theme, but rather as artistic stance, the fragility of time is present in all of his works. Sometimes clearly recognizable in his play with iconic cultural objects from his home region black forest in Germany; other times as subtle references in form of animalistic ambassadors, transformation processes become visible and tangible.

Where translation between different languages reaches the limits of its precision, Strumbel draws on an internationally recognizable symbol: what is packed up in bubble wrap is universally acknowledged as something valuable, fragile and worth protecting. The German concept of Heimat – best translated as homeland – doesn’t refer to a physical place; rather, it embodies an emotion, a space, an idea or thought, that both protects and deserves protection. Against nationalist appropriations of the term, the sense of preciousness of a shared world becomes universally accessible in his new paintings. The colliding color fields, both clashing and embracing, turn viewers into world-makers, propelling them into a dynamic tumult of perspectives, relationships, and meanings, while opening space for their entanglements, dialogues, and negotiations.

The New Times brings together seemingly contradictory qualities, giving shape, color, and experience to the ceaseless process of renewal, while exploring what must be protected above all else.

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