Eberhard Havekost: U Say Love

The Dissolution of the Object

At first glance, Eberhard Havekost's work is determined by discontinuity. Some of his latest paintings from 2017-2019 are almost perfect in their appreciation of realism. The kangaroo on the title fixes its eyes on the viewer; it appears blinded by the bright light, possibly the headlights of a car. Its body is frozen, the pose an anticipation of rigor mortis. Some paintings are abstract, combining dynamic and gestural brushstrokes with the scraping-off of paint. In other pictures, colors such as a bright orange, lemon yellow and scarlet are smudged, suggesting a smoky mist. Then again, a sulfurous green again appears almost uniform and thus a little yellowish, as if it were seeping acridly, stifling and biting through the canvas. The process of painting becomes a chemical process when Eberhard Havekost removes layer upon layer of paint with turpentine, in fact liquefying it again, in order to seemingly dissolve it. The images by Eberhard Havekost thus go beyond reality. They revolve around the dissolution of the object, since his work is about reconstruction, seeing something and rebuilding it. Yet the image remains flat, is not just imagination, but remains an object, soft and hence open to various meanings.

Exhibition:
CFA Contemporary Fine Arts Berlin, 26/4-1/6/2019