Every work of art has its story and its secret
“Every work of art has its story and its secret”
By Mirjam Hagebölling
Rosemarie Bassi Gallery in Remagen
“Every work of art has its story and its secret” Remagen · On the occasion of the latest exhibition in the Rosemarie Bassi Gallery, the artists Ralf Kosmo and Van Son Le gave deep insights into their work. This also resulted in surprising insights for art lovers.
Lively conversation about art: Ralf Kosmo (from left), gallery owner Rosemarie Bassi and Van Son Le.
After a long break due to illness, she is back: Rosemarie Bassi – the grande dame of the Rhenish art scene. And the traditional artist talks in the gallery are also being revived: On Sunday, Rosemarie Bassi invited two artists to talk who could not have been more different: Ralf Kosmo from Cologne and Van Son Le, born and raised in Vietnam. And yet there is a connecting element between the two: They were fellow students in the master’s degree in painting at the Alanus University of Art and Society in Alfter, and they build bridges.
Ralf Kosmo, born in 1969, was a student and assistant to Mary Bauermeister and reported on the history of his works. The “pyramid” was created from the remains of Mary Bauermeister’s studio in Oberagger (Oberbergischer Kreis). The studio was completely destroyed by a fire in April 2019. The “pyramid” consists of many individual triangles made of fur, animal and plant skins. The green triangles are made of copper and come from the former dome roof of the Beethoven Hall in Bonn. The tip is made of gold-shimmering brass elements, these are parts of the former artist’s dressing room of the Beethoven Hall. The writings on the edge of the pyramid seem mysterious. “These are important fragments and themes that came to my mind during the creative period. It can also be read as a coordinate system with questions and answers. I keep looking at it myself and find new nodes,” explains Kosmo.
The recurring element in Kosmo’s art is geometric shapes and especially triangles. This is also the case in the light installation entitled “Triad”. The mirror installed underneath creates another level. In this work he dealt with the question: “What is light?” from a scientific, artistic and philosophical perspective. Ralf Kosmo says of himself that he approaches new topics and works in a very playful way and is interested in natural sciences – especially astronomy and quantum mechanics. “I became an artist because the works should speak for themselves. I have no intention before I start – it just happens,” says Kosmo.
Van Son Le, born in 1984, was already a very well-known artist in Vietnam. He studied painting at the Hue Art Academy in Vietnam and specialized in the field of “lacquer art”. This 3500-year-old cultural technique was used to refine the surfaces and decorate everyday objects and art objects and is very highly regarded. The lacquer is obtained from lacquer trees that only grow in East Asia. “This difficult technique requires a lot of patience and not every student is trusted to handle it. This is a special award,” explained Rosemarie Bassi. Van Son Le mixes color pigments into the lacquer and applies them layer by layer to the wooden surface. As the individual layers have to dry before a new layer can be applied, a single work takes around three months. The approximately five to seven layers are carefully sanded off again to create a mosaic. He uses duck egg shells for the white pigments, explained the artist. What is remarkable about Van Son Le is the huge number of sketches he makes, as he likes to experiment. The artist with Vietnamese roots combines elements of East Asian culture in his works and wants to build a bridge between cultures. The exhibition “ieri, oggi, domani, sempre” (German: “yesterday, today, tomorrow, always”) can be seen until mid-November in the Rosemarie Bassi Gallery, Marktstraße 109 in Remagen, Wednesdays to Fridays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. www.galerierosemarie-bassi.eu.
