BIKINI ATOLL (Series: Beautiful View)

In addition to his installations, Städelschule graduate Deniz Alt explores the causes of climate change and its consequences in his paintings.

The global industrial legacy, dating back to Werner von Siemens's time, seems to be the new tourist destinations worldwide. Unlike in the time of Caspar David Friedrich, these cemeteries appear more like paradises. These very cemeteries, in this case shipwrecks, have a magical attraction for modern people. These lost places evoke certain morbid longings in people, similar to those of the dark Romantics in literature and painting.

The paintings "Future," "The Turning Point," and "Bikini Atoll" should therefore also be understood ironically. With the figures, the shipwrecks, and the paradisiacal climate in the background, they embody a positive reality that often invites the viewer to take a vacation. The work "Bikini Atoll" finds its dark romanticism in its history, as it was the US research island where most of the atomic bomb tests were conducted at that time.

All three works are deliberately painted in a sweet, even kitsch manner, and their dark background only becomes apparent upon prolonged viewing.

Andreas Rimpel is a quiet observer. Rimpel pays particular attention to extreme situations or a person's emotional state when challenged. In "AM ABGRUND" (On the Edge), it can be the psychological strain of not wanting to fall, or perhaps having climbed a coastal rock and still wrestling with oneself about whether one is actually brave enough to jump into the water.

International premiere:

"First Mauritius was made, and then paradise. And paradise was a copy of Mauritius." – Mark Twain. The painting "Tree at Blue Bay" is the result of an artist residency the artist duo held on the island with an international artist community in 2023. It depicts part of the Blue Bay Marine Park, a protected marine reserve off the southeast coast of Mauritius.