Bruno Goller - Retrospektive 1922-1992

Goller´s Proximity to Surrealism and New ObjectivityThe history of painting in the 20th century ­has long been interpreted as a competition between schools and styles, overlooking how decisive outsiders can be for the development of art. Despite some parallels between his work and the art of Surrealism and New ­Objectivity, Bruno Goller also belongs to this group of unconventional mavericks. Born in Gummersbach in 1901 and residing in Düsseldorf since 1927, he spent over seventy years creating a magical world of images that, in contrast to the great contem­porary trend of abstraction, is characterized by a clear commitment to representationalism. We ­recognize houses, clocks, hats, roses, umbrellas, coats and, last but not least, women, who are generally depicted in a typified and strictly formalized manner. Although men occasion­ally appear in his paintings, it is women who are at the center of his art. In their idol-like presence, how­ever, they are as difficult to grasp and interpret as all the objects they are surrounded by. What deeper meaning brings all the motifs in the picture toge­ther? Associative links between the pictorial inventory are certainly possible at certain points, but Goller´s paintings decline to be clearly legible. Ultimately, they refuse to be grasped by the interpreter and it is precisely from this that they gain their radiance: the magic of the enigmatic.