Franz Burkhardt. DEHORS / DEDANS

In keeping with the French exhibition title DEHORS / DEDANS (Eng.: outside/inside), the presentation of recent drawings and objects with an installation character by the Montzen-based artist Franz Burkhardt can be broken down into two distinct groups: interiors and exteriors. The visitor thus enters an imaginary living space, intimated by coloured walls, on which small-format drawings in old, used frames are hung closely together in typical salon style. As a result of the everyday, domestic and erotic themes, which Franz Burkhardt depicts with pencil, Indian ink and gouache, nostalgic associations are awakened. In addition to photos from erotic magazines of the 1950s and ’60s, the artist also makes use of motifs from old books, journals and comics for his figurative depictions. The titles, in most cases quotes in the form of speech and thought bubbles or collaged definitions and explanations of particular situations, give the motifs a humorous, and at times also contemplative, scrutinizing twist.

The exterior is constructed of detailed façades with doors, windows, lighting and doorbell panels made of various materials on a 1:1 scale. Here as well, there is a sense of nostalgia, since the scenery has a certain patina and shows signs of deterioration. Partially peeling posters with motifs from Burkhardt’s drawings, pasted pin-ups, blind panes of glass or the sign announcing “Atelier a vendre” provide hints of a life lived in hiding in this imaginary dwelling. With his mock objects, Burkhardt juggles subtly with the question of reality and fiction. The viewer becomes an integral component of the installation. Immediately following the exhibition in Galerie Rupert Pfab in Düsseldorf, a further solo show by Franz Burkhardt will be presented as part of the exhibition series spiritual ground in the Brauweiler Abbey in Pulheim (opening on Friday, 24 October 2014). Here as well, the artist will present a site-specific installation. A façade modelled after a building across from the abbey complex blurs the borders between fiction and reality. The scenery will be complemented by the replica of a kiosk, which, as a sculptural work of art, will also serve as a bar on the evening of the opening. The exhibition will be on view through Sunday, 7 December 2014.

Also opening on 24 October 2014 is the group exhibition Topf und Deckel – Kunst und Küche (Pot and Lid – Art and the Kitchen) in the municipal gallery Villa Zanders in Bergisch Gladbach, where Frank Burkhardt will be represented with a kitchen installation. The exhibition will run through Sunday, 8 March 2015.