Square: Eberhard Havekost

Anton Kern Gallery is proud to present “Square”, Eberhard Havekost’s third solo show in New York. The artist will be showing paintings whose subjects include building façades, mobile homes, and exteriors of houses as well as their interior scenarios.

Square and plane shapes float in front of our eyes, flattening the radiance of their imagery. Havekost reduces objects, people, and ambient into pure forms. Unavoidably, the artist guides us to what he thinks is relevant. He shows us details, but never reveals the whole scenario or object. Fields of colors and blurred edges define the precise style of the artist.

Havekost’s work could be described as figurative, yet close to abstraction. What he really does is confuse the spectator with a spatial illusion. One has the feeling of looking through the lens of a camera, a surveillance camera perhaps. Directing and filtering the image, the artist does not follow any narrative or concrete theme. We are left in obscurity; it is in the eye of the beholder to catalyze the essence of his work.

Even though the work sometimes looks like realistic mannerism, suggesting the use of digital technique, it is done in free hand. Attempting to confuse the viewer, Havekost abuses the experience of overlapping pixels. With an anti-gesture and a certain coolness, the paintings seduce, but not please. The sense of loss is continuous. In a dramatic way one feels as if they skipped a moment. Lacking personality, the work is disconcerting, turning viewer into victim. It offers no escape.