" Berkeley - Seeds of the Sixties"
egg tempera 50 x 54 2016
egg tempera 50 x 54 2016
From the introductory statement to the 2001 Austrian Biennale, "The New Age of Disillusionment" by Karl A. Irsigler Phd. Philosophy, Austria
"The visual arts of the century just passed were filled with a hunger for experiencing something "other". We are familiar with the vision of a purer and better world in the here and now through the work of the famous outsider, Paul Gauguin. The Surrealists had a similar kind of fundamental longing, except that for them Paris was the center of the world. Consequently they were not as interested in foreign cultures, but had a tendency to search the deeper layers of the human soul, for the root of all things exotic. While the Surrealists also relied on a dream interpretation, science fiction has again become increasingly important in the last few decades. Utopia can wear many cloaks. Dream references are also found in this year's Biennale: The work of Monika Steinhoff (USA), places dreams, visions and daydreams in a positive relationship to utopia. The ability to wonder, often lost in adulthood, is particularly important in this context. Eyes filled with wonder do not see the world as it is, but that it is. Fully aware of the overabundance of daily information, of the availability of images and words and the resulting emptiness, Monika Steinhoff creates paintings that address the short-sighted, functional realism of our time. It is not the contradiction of daily reality, but rather the sense of the infinite beyond temporal goals of these fantastic images that break through familiar form. She researches the repertory of reality thoroughly by experimenting with her creative methods and through validating new combinations."
"The visual arts of the century just passed were filled with a hunger for experiencing something "other". We are familiar with the vision of a purer and better world in the here and now through the work of the famous outsider, Paul Gauguin. The Surrealists had a similar kind of fundamental longing, except that for them Paris was the center of the world. Consequently they were not as interested in foreign cultures, but had a tendency to search the deeper layers of the human soul, for the root of all things exotic. While the Surrealists also relied on a dream interpretation, science fiction has again become increasingly important in the last few decades. Utopia can wear many cloaks. Dream references are also found in this year's Biennale: The work of Monika Steinhoff (USA), places dreams, visions and daydreams in a positive relationship to utopia. The ability to wonder, often lost in adulthood, is particularly important in this context. Eyes filled with wonder do not see the world as it is, but that it is. Fully aware of the overabundance of daily information, of the availability of images and words and the resulting emptiness, Monika Steinhoff creates paintings that address the short-sighted, functional realism of our time. It is not the contradiction of daily reality, but rather the sense of the infinite beyond temporal goals of these fantastic images that break through familiar form. She researches the repertory of reality thoroughly by experimenting with her creative methods and through validating new combinations."
Madonna of the Sunflowers