Marc Brandenburg's "Deutsch-Amerikanishe Freundschaft," by Mike Kieper

The Denver Art Museum hosted Marc Brandenburg’s first solo exhibition in the United States, which included around 30 drawings from numerous private European collections. Brandenburg’s drawings resemble photographic-negatives, in which black and white tones are reversed. The exhibition is subtitled “Deutch-Amerikanishe Freundschaft,” which translates to “German-American Friendship” in English. Perception, truth, and reality are the major themes explored by Brandenburg as he links personal experiences to politics and popular culture in his drawings.

Brandenburg’s use of black and white tones resemble snapshots that combine aspects of realism and transfiguration in attempt to give permanence to a contemporary view of reality. The viewer feels as though they are looking at the photographic negatives of the artist’s life, as the brighter tones seem to leap out toward the audience while the darker tones project a distance between the intense moments captured on the white paper. This style of drawing gives the artist an ethos appeal as the audience associates the artist with real photography despite the abstractions of the artist.

There is an evident kairos appeal that is felt in Brandenburg’s works due to his style of drawing and realistic scenes which incorporate elements of event culture. Public demonstrators, fairgrounds, and avid football fans are just a few of the inhabitants of this bizarre depiction of reality. The contemporary drawings of popular culture force the viewer to question whether the subtle abstractions in the drawings are in fact realistic or not.

The audience, unlike most rhetorical events, is widespread and undefined as anyone familiar with popular culture can see the parallels drawn between our world and the world that is created in graphite. Almost any viewer can recognize some aspect included in Brandenburg’s drawings, such as iconic figures like the late Michael Jackson, and therefore relate these components to their view of the world as it appears in contrast to what is depicted the art.

The Marc Brandenburg exhibit is only on display in Denver until February 20^th, 2011. The resemblance of his works to that of photographic negatives embodies the personae that he tries to project. His drawings capture intense moments in which the audience is forced to separate the realistic elements from the abstract and as a result, question the nature of our culture as a whole. The ideals of perception, truth, and reality are unified in the detailed white and black tones that portray Brandenburg’s world.