This painting has two sides
The Kunsthalle in the Glaspalast is presenting "New Paths of Abstraction." One woman stands out strikingly.
By Rüdiger Heinze (Augsburger Allgemeine, 22.04.2026)
The backs of paintings have repeatedly been the subject of painting exhibitions. The Brazilian artist Vic Muniz, for example, had the frames of famous paintings by Leonardo ("Mona Lisa"), van Gogh ("Starry Night"), Klimt ("The Kiss"), and Vermeer ("Girl with a Pearl Earring") to present the backs exactly as they are, complete with all curator's notes and loan stickers.
Yet the deliberate intention to bring both the front and the back of a painting- which is, in principle, not transparent-equally into focus is something that can certainly claim to be unique. Anyone who hasn't seen it yet wonders: How does this work? Those who wish to see it should now head to the art gallery of Augsburg's Glaspalast. "New Paths of Abstraction" or-because t sounds more impressive-"Shift of Vision" is the title of the new exhibition by the Augsburg Art Collections there. Integrated into it is a presentation of predominantly small-format works by Manuel Frattini, which follow their own path of abstraction. Thus, space is given to the works of a total of four artists, who-in the words of curator Jan T. Wilms-create a "field of tension and coordinate system of contemporary painting," yet exhibit more differences than similarities. In other words: no shared signature, no affiliation with a common school. It is not a matter of etiquette that the woman among the four artists should be given priority, but because, in terms of an original, independent, powerful and-this remains decisive-aesthetically effective body of work, she offers the best argument for studying this exhibition in depth. In Jutta Haeckel's large-format works on fabric, exactly what is unparalleled occurs: that the front and back of a painting must be considered equally. How does this work? Jutta Haeckel's paintings are, in a certain sense, thread-like. From the jute fabric, she removes threads in sections, which makes the painting surface semi-transparent and also exposes parts of the frame behind the jute fabric. Then she paints,using computer-processed images of, among other things, organic or architectural structures as templates. And she paints on both sides of the jute, not necessarily knowing yet what she will designate as the front and back once the painting process is complete, nor where she sees the top and bottom, right and left. But once the painting is hung and the paint seeps through from back to front, the (often white) wall behind it as a visual participant-both in terms of depth and in terms of color light reflection from the back of the painting. All of this is sophisticated and clearly worth reporting. Yet, of course, idea and technique alone are no guarantee of the sought-after artistic quality. But the fact that she also impresses in her abstract compositions with gently shimmering mineral- like colors, with moments of calm and painterly intensifications, that can certainly be described as an event, as a phenomenon. Such works usually do not emerge without study, without a master class. Jutta Haeckel was, among others, a student of Katharina Grosse and a master's student of Karin Kneffel. The result today: that in her works, painting fractures in multiple ways -and this does it a world of good. What does she wish for from the audience? "A sharpening of the perceptual process." Once the process of perception is sharpened, it also proves useful when viewing the paintings of Moritz Neuhoff. Large-format works by himare on display, in which the brushstroke tself-or the sprayed line of fluorescent paint-serves as the motif. A hallmark of his art is to the strokes and lines, on the one hand, a relief-like plasticity, while on the other hand, making them appear as a digital image. This leads to paradoxical effects, such as shadows seeming capable of casting light. Those who love the illusionistic, along with impact and effect, will find in Moritz Neuhoff a wealth of visual material.
A detour into the three small galleries to the composed picture walls by Manuel Frattini under the title "The Landscape of Painting." The drawings, paintings, and watercolors-hung at varying heights and rhythms-are repeatedly drawings, paintings, and watercolors are repeatedly interspersed with his own still-life photographs, whose motif structures the artist incorporates into his art-just as he repeatedly incorporates the verticals and horizontals of the picture frame into freehand-developed grid, lattice, and mesh structures - Frattini hopes that viewers will "ponder" and develop associations while looking. A 126-page catalog from the Augsburg Art Collections with a foreword by Jan T. Wilms is dedicated to his works. Finally, a special case is Peter Krauskopf. He has made aname for himself through precise imitations of Gerhard Richter's color-sprayed squeegee abstractions. At some art fairs, people were already marveling at such recklessly imitative acts of audacity. Now Krauskopf is exhibiting paintings whose motif towers 2 like a monolith-or like a highly geometrized shoulder/head view. But even now, Richter with his strong shoulders is still pre-sent in the space-through chromatic "sky" back-grounds and intense bands of color, overlaid with luminous splashes of color. It's an eye-catcher, albeit not a purely original one. Peter Krauskopf says: "No one can really get past Richter." But the painter is beginning to break free. Jutta Haeckel, however, has already left exactly that behind her.
Shift of Vision/Manuel Frattini. At the Kunsthalle Augsburg (Glaspalast) through October 11, open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
