IN THE STUDIO
Andi Fischer

Courtesy by the artist and Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
Film: Benjamin Held
Music: Frieder Nagel
Text: Larissa Kikol

Andi Fischer has created a versatile family of figures and animals, which in snapshots reenact the cycle of nature just as well as cultural stories. Lions, crocodiles, sharks, birds and humans fight with each other, are eaten or, as in the case of the Fools‘ Ship series, perform scenes by Albrecht Dürer as instructions for action. The book of the same title was written by Sebastian Brant, and the first printed edition was produced in 1494. Here, 100 fools and jesters go on board and experience a voyage through their own vices and foibles. The book’s illustrations are attributed to Albrecht Dürer. Andi Fischer translated them into his own drawing style. One fool attempts to ride a lobster, another is haunted by an ominous bird that won‘t leave his side, while a third is at a loss in an encounter with a pig. Not in control of their situation, they all try to find their way with negligible success - a fable on life and human situations of failure comprehensible to anyone.

In the series of paintings that feature blue birds, the animal triumphs. It proudly carries its belongings: a crown, a human, animals or a twin. The bird is always the same - a figure that has accompanied Andi Fischer for a long time. Painting-wise it is an interesting case, because between lightness, feathers and solid body volume, the stroke jumps energetically back and forth between figuration and abstraction. This is a typical characteristic of Andi Fischer. His pictorial language is reminiscent of that of children. Scribbled hatchings, dot faces, stick figures: these are also characteristics of Art Brut. But this apparent childishness is repeatedly abandoned, especially when strokes and entire sections of the picture digress into freedom, when abstractions suddenly emerge in a bird‘s wing, in the sea or in the reduction of bodies. These parts of the image are carried by quick, autonomous gestures. Here, Andi Fischer’s drawing style comes close to Expressionism.

The landscape paintings are a series in which the abstract transpires most clearly. Although he has been working on them for a long time, they have only been known to the public for a year. They are the backgrounds that are always missing from his figure paintings. The nature compositions are inspired by Brittany, but they are also reminiscent of jungles or wild forests. Green stalks or lianas interlock with the blue, curving or angular waves and pieces of sky. Here, the sweeping stroke expands the boundaries of figuration into playful freedom.

Larissa Kikol

About Andi Fischer

Andi Fischer (*1987) is a Berlin-based artist who creates energetic paintings and drawings that simulate a child-like naiveté inspired by art history.

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