Enrico Bach was born in Leipzig, former East Germany in 1980 and moved to Karlsruhe with his parents at the age of 9. This kind of background is easy to associate with Markus Lu ̈ The older generation of German artists such as Pertz, Gerhard Richter, George Baselitz, A. R. Penck, as well as the "Leipzig School" represented by Neo Rauch, which is a well-known group of artists born in former East Germany in the Chinese art world. But there is almost no connection between Bach's works and the former East Germany. He had a happy childhood and migrated to western Germany as a child, with no profound experience of anything different. When he started studying art in Karlsruhe, the "Leipzig School" was already very eye-catching, but he had little interest in it. What truly fascinated him was the possibility of painting in the present.
Bach's painting is often a state between abstract and concrete: on the one hand, it is a delicate combination of various geometric lines, shapes, and color blocks - he seems to be fascinated by mechanical rigor and precision: the parallel lines, regardless of length, size, or appearance, are absolutely parallel, with a color block or group of lines gradually changing from shallow to deep, absolutely as precise as high-precision printing; The edges and corners of the painting are often exquisitely crafted, making it look like a typical geometric abstract painting style; On the other hand, these carefully crafted images composed of geometric lines, shapes, and color blocks often evoke ordinary objects with no special meaning: semi open blinds, pieced ceramic walls, randomly stacked documents, crisscrossing waste paper strips Rather than meticulously recording a moving visual moment of these ordinary objects, we extract their simple shapes, subtle visual textures, exquisite artificial colors, and complex and orderly industrial order In a cold and dramatic atmosphere of light and shadow, these small items often exude a cold metallic luster (or the fluorescence emitted by electronic screens) are removed from their daily characteristics, presenting their unique visual charm in a serious and geometric manner.
Since 2019, there have been some new changes in Bach's paintings: firstly, the geometric form of the painting seems to be no longer limited by everyday objects and becoming increasingly independent. The geometric lines and shapes may not necessarily constitute certain everyday objects, but rather serve as constituent elements of a self-sufficient "geometric world"; Secondly, the already dramatic atmosphere of light and shadow has been further strengthened into a mysterious surreal theater atmosphere; Thirdly, the basic visual structure has gradually shifted from the skillful and rigorous geometric composition to a still rigorous but more free and casual composite relationship; Fourthly, although the work is also filled with many daily elements, the overall image of the work is more free and varied, often showing its relationship with the history of modern Western painting, such as surrealism, Picasso's comprehensive cubism, and Pop art. Various lines and blocks of color are like geometric life forms that bloom freely on a cramped stage. They overlap, compress, tilt, embrace, avoid each other, scatter, and freely transform, twist, and flip The mood of the work is also more diverse: some are tense and anxious, some are magnificent and magnificent, some are humorous and humorous, some are relaxed and comfortable, some are romantic and mysterious These changes - especially the batch of works he created in the past two years, which divided the screen into two parts, each part being independent and full, and adding up to form a richer visual conflict and balance relationship - mean that he has gone from being deeply influenced by Imi Knoebel's "redesign and simplification" to a more free and broader "micro world".
Bach's paintings often remind me of Giorgio Morandi's still life paintings, not because of the similarity in painting language, but because of their use of motifs: Morandi spent his entire life playing with those few bottles and jars, and his bottles and jars actually formed a highly dramatic and humanized independent world; So far, Enrico Bach has been playing with his geometric form; And his geometric form is also forming a highly dramatic and humanized independent world, an endless "micro theater" that can constantly evolve. However, as an artist born in the 1980s, the visual qualities of Bach's works are deeply intertwined with Morandi's: the simple and delicate edges cut by machines, the light shadows naturally formed below the edges, and the delicate and cold texture exuding industrial paint luster (or fluorescence emitted by electronic screens) In the neat, exquisite, and cold beauty of machinery, there seems to be a hint of contemplation and a touch of warmth. Enrico Bach's paintings are like the daily dramas of this increasingly prosperous and impoverished era, depicting the solemnity and grandeur of religious paintings, the sensitivity and euphemism of lyrical poets, the precision and precision of exquisite craftsmanship, and the subtle and persistent presentation of geometric details.
