| Olaf
Quantius
In his series "den Wald vor Bäumen nicht" (Not the wood for the trees), Olaf Quantius attempts to determine the subjective ideal distance to things and to life. According to the proverb, you can, in your search, overlook the things to which you get too close or in which you find yourself. It is, therefore, a matter of focusing your sight as well as your own means and possibilities. And beyond this, there is also the hope that, with a clear sight, happiness will also reveal itself: by focussing in a way in which you accept all the things you cannot change and approach, with courage, the things you can change. Besides the series’ abstract works, there are two large format forest pieces. The chosen detail and the perspectives steer the attention, in particular, to the dense undergrowth which diverts the view. Neither is there any special regard for a view to the distance or any step made into an adjoining space where there is no movement. The view is rather focused on a medium focal length. It allows the subject to be an autonomous being, detaching itself from its environment and being able to react in an active way. What applies to both the forest pieces also applies in a similar way to the abstract works of the series. The size of the painting’s individual elements, the clear contours of the “spots”, their colour and surface, enable the observer to recognise an order in the composition as well as to devote himself to a close-up examination. Quantius opens up to the observer the opportunity of finding the ideal distance, of directing his viewing to the whole, to details, the static or the variable and consequently of catching up with the "bright and transient thing that was always close in front of me." (Hunter S. Thompson) [2] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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