Karl Otto Götz
Encyclopedia
Karl Otto Götz is a German artist
who is best known for his spontaneous abstract painting
in the Informel ('art without form') style. Important elements in his surrealist-influenced work are a spontaneous abstract creativity and the manual rendering of automatically created randomly generated images.
Born in Aachen
, Germany
, Götz began painting while at secondary school. In 1930 he began painting abstracts and then experimented with collages. After the National Socialists came to power in Germany official disapproval of his abstract splash paintings and surrealistic works led to Götz being banned from painting and exhibiting in Nazi Germany
. He survived by selling landscape paintings to tourists.
During World War II
, Götz was drafted into the army but was nevertheless able to continue his studies and meet fellow artists. It was while serving as a soldier during the War that Götz developed an interest in the aesthetics of radar images. Early experimentation eventually led (1960 onwards) to an interest in producing "electron paintings" that would emulate the form of an animated television picture, using large rastered
images generated by a computer programme and then painted by hand.
Götz's early post-War work included extensive experimentation with techniques and imagery in prints and drawings that included drawings made using an airpump. He produced woodcuts and watercolours that featured fantastical plant forms and creatures, among them a series of monotype prints of bird-humans. During the late 1940s he continued to producing abstract-figurative monotypes and surrealistic experimental photo works, but his painting became predominantly abstract. He gave up figurative art in 1949, the year he was invited to join the COBRA
group.
The work of the COBRA group contributed to the emergence of Art Informel in the period after 1950 as a "universal language" for European artists involved in the development of European abstract expressionism and Tachisme
. In 1952 Götz was one of the four co-founders, with Otto Greis, Heinz Kreutz and Bernard Schultze
, of the Frankfurt 'Quadriga', a group of artists painting in a Tachist
style influenced by Wols
and Automatism
.. During the group's brief existence, before the divergence of its loosely associated members' artistic development led to its dissolution in 1954, Quadriga played an important pioneer role in introducing Art informel to Germany
As Götz moved away from clearly defined forms, his approach to painting became more dynamic. In a technique Götz has continued to use throughout his later painting career, the image is developed through a lengthy, intense process, often involving a large number of preliminary sketches and gouaches. Once the preparation is complete, the artist applies dark paint onto a light background with a paintbrush, working in a fast and focused way. The paint is then "raked" - partially removed using a type of spatula
known as a "rake" - before the contrast between the light and dark areas of the still-moist surface is softened using a dry paintbrush.
Götz's contemporary work (2010) features deeply colored abstract
collage
s and hand-painted pieces based on a computer-generated random pixelation
process.
From 1948 to 1953 Götz co-published the magazine Meta and between 1959 and 1979 he was a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
.
Amongst the artists Götz's work has influenced are Nam June Paik
and Götz's students at the Kunstakademie, including Gerhard Richter
, Sigmar Polke
, Gotthard Graubner
and others.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
who is best known for his spontaneous abstract painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
in the Informel ('art without form') style. Important elements in his surrealist-influenced work are a spontaneous abstract creativity and the manual rendering of automatically created randomly generated images.
Born in Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Götz began painting while at secondary school. In 1930 he began painting abstracts and then experimented with collages. After the National Socialists came to power in Germany official disapproval of his abstract splash paintings and surrealistic works led to Götz being banned from painting and exhibiting in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. He survived by selling landscape paintings to tourists.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Götz was drafted into the army but was nevertheless able to continue his studies and meet fellow artists. It was while serving as a soldier during the War that Götz developed an interest in the aesthetics of radar images. Early experimentation eventually led (1960 onwards) to an interest in producing "electron paintings" that would emulate the form of an animated television picture, using large rastered
Raster graphics
In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
images generated by a computer programme and then painted by hand.
Götz's early post-War work included extensive experimentation with techniques and imagery in prints and drawings that included drawings made using an airpump. He produced woodcuts and watercolours that featured fantastical plant forms and creatures, among them a series of monotype prints of bird-humans. During the late 1940s he continued to producing abstract-figurative monotypes and surrealistic experimental photo works, but his painting became predominantly abstract. He gave up figurative art in 1949, the year he was invited to join the COBRA
COBRA (avant-garde movement)
COBRA was a European avant-garde movement active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home cities: Copenhagen , Brussels , Amsterdam .-History:...
group.
The work of the COBRA group contributed to the emergence of Art Informel in the period after 1950 as a "universal language" for European artists involved in the development of European abstract expressionism and Tachisme
Tachisme
Tachisme is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. It is often considered to be the European equivalent to abstract expressionism...
. In 1952 Götz was one of the four co-founders, with Otto Greis, Heinz Kreutz and Bernard Schultze
Bernard Schultze
Bernard Schultze was a German painter who co-founded the Quadriga group of artists. In 1955, he married another painter named Ursula Bluhm....
, of the Frankfurt 'Quadriga', a group of artists painting in a Tachist
Tachisme
Tachisme is a French style of abstract painting popular in the 1940s and 1950s. It is often considered to be the European equivalent to abstract expressionism...
style influenced by Wols
Wols
Wols was the pseudonym of Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze , a German painter and photographer predominantly active in France....
and Automatism
Surrealist automatism
Automatism has taken on many forms: the automatic writing and drawing initially practiced by surrealists can be compared to similar, or perhaps parallel phenomena, such as the non-idiomatic improvisation of free jazz....
.. During the group's brief existence, before the divergence of its loosely associated members' artistic development led to its dissolution in 1954, Quadriga played an important pioneer role in introducing Art informel to Germany
As Götz moved away from clearly defined forms, his approach to painting became more dynamic. In a technique Götz has continued to use throughout his later painting career, the image is developed through a lengthy, intense process, often involving a large number of preliminary sketches and gouaches. Once the preparation is complete, the artist applies dark paint onto a light background with a paintbrush, working in a fast and focused way. The paint is then "raked" - partially removed using a type of spatula
Spatula
The term spatula is used to refer to various small implements with a broad, flat, flexible blade used to mix, spread and lift materials including foods, drugs, plaster and paints...
known as a "rake" - before the contrast between the light and dark areas of the still-moist surface is softened using a dry paintbrush.
Götz's contemporary work (2010) features deeply colored abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
s and hand-painted pieces based on a computer-generated random pixelation
Pixelation
In computer graphics, pixelation is an effect caused by displaying a bitmap or a section of a bitmap at such a large size that individual pixels, small single-colored square display elements that comprise the bitmap, are visible to the eye...
process.
From 1948 to 1953 Götz co-published the magazine Meta and between 1959 and 1979 he was a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, formerly Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, is the Arts Academy of the city of Düsseldorf. It is well known for having produced many famous artists, such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Thomas Demand, and Andreas Gursky...
.
Amongst the artists Götz's work has influenced are Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the first video artist....
and Götz's students at the Kunstakademie, including Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter is a German visual artist. Richter has simultaneously produced abstract and photorealistic painted works, as well as photographs and glass pieces, thus undermining the concept of the artist’s obligation to maintain a single cohesive style.- Biography :Gerhard Richter was born in...
, Sigmar Polke
Sigmar Polke
Sigmar Polke was a German painter and photographer.Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matter and materials. In the 1970s, he concentrated on photography, returning to paint in the 1980s, when he produced abstract works created by chance through chemical reactions between paint...
, Gotthard Graubner
Gotthard Graubner
Gotthard Graubner is a German painter. He was born in Erlbach, in Saxony, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and the Academy of Arts in Düsseldorf, before becoming a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg, in 1969...
and others.