Luc Besson’s cult film “In the Rush of the Deep” from 1988 is called “Le Grand Bleu” in the original French – the “Big Blue” (English title: “The Big Blue”). The dramatic story about two extraordinary apnea divers is in fact not only an existential dissolution experience, but also an intoxicating visual homage to the azure blue of the sea, especially the Mediterranean Sea near Sicily and in Greece.
The artist Sabine Runge also has a soft spot for Mediterranean moods and colors: “The deep blue of the Aegean and the azure of the Tyrrhenian Sea reflect my deep longing and love for the sea,” she explains. And: “For me, the color blue symbolizes infinite freedom and the discovery of the depths within myself.” Runge is one of numerous members of the Ottobrunn Art Association who are currently presenting their works in the “Blue” exhibition in the Kulturetage Messestadt. The quotes mentioned can be read in the context of the associated artist portraits.
In addition to Runge with her abstract paintings, Annegret Poschlep, Harald Stark, Uta Riess, Martina Schulz, Marlies Bauer, Steffi Möllers, Susanna Ladda, Bernhard G. Kreissl, Bernd Georg Schwemmle, Tanja Hust, Brigitte Güntner, Banu Theis-Baydur and Skadi Engeln are showing various jobs there. They have all explored the richness of the color blue in different ways, primarily with the brush but also with the camera. Blue is clearly the most popular color of all, ahead of red, but it is also one that can radiate a certain coolness. Sea, sky, in-between moods – if you look at the world in its blue nuances, you will find feelings such as familiarity, longing for vastness and infinity, but also coolness and introversion up to melancholy.
Works of landscape and collage painting can be seen in the Riem arcades, as well as human portraits and photo series with deliberately long exposure times, as well as abstract works such as “Checkmate in Blue” by Theis-Baydur, the artist playing with colors and geometric shapes . Brigitte Güntner sends a “raindrop on its journey” and Harald Stark’s pictures are characterized by intense, strong colors and strong contrasts. “My main focus is on playing with colors and shapes, a positive and friendly aura in my pictures,” says Unterhachinger, who primarily relies on the technique of “pouring” (to pour means “pour, pour”): colors are not applied with a brush or spatula, but poured onto the canvas. They usually flow into each other from different directions and form abstract, surprising forms and structures. In her light blue clay work, Uta Riess deals with people fleeing across the sea and asks: “How great must the need be for you to risk your life?”
The “Blue” exhibition, in which the Ottobrunn Art Association is a guest in the Messestadt culture floor, can be found in the middle building of the Riem-Arcaden, third floor. It is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday also from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and during events. It runs until Friday February 11th.