CHRYSE PLANITIA
| Edition | Original Art |
|---|---|
| Sujet | Abstract |
| Technique | Painting – Acrylic on Canvas |
| Height | 155 cm |
| Width | 114 cm |
| Length/Depth | 5 cm |
CHRYSE PLANITIA
Year of creation: 2026
Medium:
Oil on canvas mounted on an aluminium stretcher frame, including a white-lacquered maple shadow-joint frame
Technique:
Painting with a brush
CHRYSE PLANITIA refers to the vast plain on Mars where the first Mars probe, VIKING I, landed on 20 July 1976. Mars, a thoroughly hostile environment which, in the ‘pre-space age’, still fuelled the idea of possible Martian inhabitants and was later – and still is – regarded in part as a bastion of salvation for a world doomed to possible destruction, is at once a romantic idealisation / escapism into adventure / a waste of resources and a fascinating stage in humanity’s possible future in space.
CHRYSE PLANITIA is kept to an absolute minimum and is explicitly not a ‘one-to-one correspondence’ with the geological region described above. I
It certainly draws on a visual atmosphere inspired by chemical, physical and metallic transformation processes. But natural phenomena, such as the aurora borealis, are also conceivable.
Perception and thought must always remain open and fluid.
This minimalism serves as a soothing counterpoint to the overwhelming flood of images and sensory stimuli to which we are exposed on a daily basis, and invites contemplative observation.
The aim was to achieve the greatest possible abstraction.
Here is a text that formed the basis for the creation of the images:
De-objectification
Perhaps there is no object in which its de-objectification is not inscribed. Not necessarily as dissolution or final fragmentation, but as a withdrawal from the objectifying gaze. For the object, which in Ancient Greek is called Α ν τ ι κ ε ί με ν (Latin: objectum), marks the counterpart of a (perceiving) subject, which we call the object. It stands opposite, forms an opposition and, in doing so, is constituted not only within the subject-object relation; it also proves to be a construct which, like any construction, can be broken down into its constituent parts. This decomposition is inherent in it. Rather than being an act imposed from outside, it is a priori part of the object’s concreteness. In fact, seeing does not mean exclusively synthesising or assembling in order to constitute concreteness. Seeing equally means analysing, decomposing, splitting and fragmenting. The whole is invisible. Only the decomposing gaze, whose power of separation is tireless, gains concreteness. To do so, it must be sensitive to the fissures that hold the elements of the object together in their difference from one another. This sensitivity also extends to the contingent nature of the composition of the concrete world. Often, the connections between its elements could be different from what they are. In fact, the concept of de-concretisation points to the principle of contingency. Things are as they are, yet they need not be so. Contingency expresses the instability or arbitrariness of the world. It is an ontological indicator of the fragility of the world of things, i.e. also of its transformability. Objectification also means: the de-realisation of the real in favour of a reality as yet unknown.
Marcus Steinweg
Shipping:
The work will be shipped mounted on the painting support described above – including a certificate of authenticity and the artist’s signature on the reverse.
The work is currently on display at the SKM Gallery and cannot be dispatched until mid-November. If you require earlier delivery, please contact the SKM team.
Daniel Wöllenstein
Lives and works in Cologne.
Artistic career
Education
2002–2009 Studied art at the University of Cologne under Rainer Barzen and Silke Leverkühne
Since 2007: Studio at KunstWerk Cologne
Exhibitions (selection)
2007 Blaumachen, KunstWerk Cologne
2008 ‘Bogen 2: Straight from the HART’ –
2008 Long Night of the Museums – ‘Festive Processions and Diodramas’
2008–2009 ‘Darwin – Design and Creation of a KVB Tram’ to mark Darwin Year 2009, in collaboration with students from the University of Cologne
2011 “Fette Nager – Bello and I” – Museum Night – KunstWerk Cologne
2016 nxnw Festival collaboration with Slobodan Kajkut “20 Interventions”
2016 “Raum 500” – exhibition with Olga Jakob and Heike Simmer – nxnw Festival
2017 “HORST” – KunstWerk Köln
2014–2017 Board member at KunstWerk Köln e.V.
2017 Chairperson of KunstWerk Köln e.V.
2019 Long Night of Museums “Wedding” – installation and collaboration with Heike Simmer
2021 TUNING – KunstWerk
2025 afternoonprojekts with Tom Gully, Oskar Lovis and Gilbert Flöck – KunstWerk Cologne
2026 Fragmented Realities – vonfraunberg Art Gallery, Düsseldorf
2026 Artist of the Month at SKM
Upcoming
June SKM Pop-up Exhibition, Munich
August: SKM Community Exhibition, Leipzig
Artist Statement
What’s it about? The works are taken from the ‘TUNING’ series – spanning the period from 2018 to the present day, although the pure colour segments have only come to dominate the ‘TUNING’ series since 2021. The focus is on a gradual abstraction and reduction of the pictorial content, whilst references to natural and man-made phenomena can be found in the colour and form compositions.
Within the seemingly equal segments, compositions of colour and form can create foregrounds and backgrounds that shift fluidly depending on the viewer’s focus. The play of light, which can be intensified by contrasting colour gradients to the point of ‘glow’, contributes to the sometimes sculptural impact of the works.
Digital colour selection scales, flip-flop paint finishes from tuned sports cars, sunsets, heavy industry, space and reflections in coffee can all find their way into the colour compositions.
