“Stratification and Space”: Art Award-winning Christian Hörl Displays at the Swabian Gallery

In an extensive solo exhibition, Christian Hörl also showed his latest, partly never-before-seen paintings on canvas and copper.

The Swabian Gallery at the Oberschönfeld Museum is dedicating an extensive solo exhibition to the 2019 Art Prize winner Christian Hörl for the Swabian District, showcasing current images as well as documents of his commissioned work on the theme of “Nature Studies” .

“With Christian Hörl we were able to win over one of the most versatile artists in Swabia,” says district assembly speaker Martin Seller. “I was particularly pleased about this, both personally and as the political representative of the Swabian district: the promotion of art and culture in Swabia has always been one of the main tasks of the district.”

The exhibition opens with photographs and models of Christian Hörl’s works in public spaces. For nearly 25 years, well and wall design as well as church and chancel furnishings have played a central role in the artist’s work. Christian Hörl uses a variety of design methods and materials: strictly structured works are combined with playful motifs.

In parallel with his commissioned work, Christian Hörl dealt with conceptual art, sculpture and painting. The exhibition showcases his latest paintings on canvas and copper, some of which have never been shown before.

In his immediate surroundings, the artist photographs – mostly in the winter months – motifs such as trees or details of mountain structures. Then he paints a layer every day with geometric motifs such as lines or circles that repeat themselves – similar to a pattern. Ultimately, this creates images with up to 15 layers on which the landscape photo is then printed. In the design of his commissioned work and his free painting, two elements play a major role: layering and space.

Christian Horley
Christian Hörl, born in Augsburg in 1961, studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Professors Erich Koch and Leo Kornbrust. He has made a name for himself not only in Swabia through participation in numerous solo exhibitions and exhibitions, as well as through art projects and works in public places. He has received many awards: International Bodensi Prize of the Kulturkonferenz (1992), Art Prize of the City of Augsburg (1998), Art Prize of the City of Kempten (1999), Magnus Remy Art Prize, Ersee (2013), Hoger Memorial Prize, Köfberen (2014) ) and the Art Prize of the District of Swabia (2019). Christian Hörl lives as a freelance artist in Rüderatshofen/Allgu.

Notes on visiting the exhibition
The exhibition can be viewed from Sunday, November 14, 2021 (Tues-Sun from 10am to 5pm): 2G rule applies. Those who can prove their vaccination or recovery, as well as children up to their 12th birthday, have access. Wearing an FFP2 mask is mandatory in museum buildings.