Gunnesch, Stefan: ICONOTHECA ABSTRACTA The starting point of the artist's book is the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), who in retrospect is regarded as a pioneer of abstract, symbolically charged art. Around 1906, she created a large number of large paintings and over 26,000 pages of notes and diaries that document her spiritual and artistic thoughts in detail, including in particular notebook no. 588 “Flowers, Mosses and Lichens” from 1919/1920 - a hybrid between a herbarium and a diary, in which af Klint assigns a plant to each day dated therein, which she records in geometric representations with guidelines (written in German).
Stefan Gunnesch's Leporello enters into a dialogue with this notebook: the abstract instructions and diagrams that af Klint developed for each plant are followed in order to visualize the plants anew. Drawn plant patterns emerge that move between representation, abstraction and sensual interpretation: on one side is a collection of 12 plant illustrations, juxtaposed with the artist's diary entries. On the corresponding reverse side, the text fragments by af Klint are assigned and commented on by texts from the book artist. The result is a fictitious dialog between the two artists - a reflection on artistic creation, its impact and disappearance.
The cover contains the beginning and end of the interview as well as biographical information about af Klint. The book is kept in a wooden box - based on af Klint's archived works, which were initially kept under lock and key in wooden boxes for 20 years after her death.
The plant drawings are partially colored with watercolor, so that each copy is unique.
Hilma af Klint referenced Goethe’s Theory of Colors in her work. Goethe went far beyond the scientific view of colors established at the time—he saw color not only as a physical phenomenon but also explored its impact on the human soul. His interest lay particularly in how people experienced colors subjectively and how certain colors could evoke different moods. He assigned emotional qualities to colors that are still often understood intuitively today.
For af Klint, who engaged deeply with spiritual and occult themes, Goethe’s Theory of Colors provided a foundation to understand the symbolic and emotional effects of colors and to use them deliberately in her paintings. She used colors to express complex ideas and spiritual concepts, developing a system of colors and forms that conveyed symbolic meanings and emotions. Her reference to Goethe showed how she combined scientific and spiritual theories in her art to guide viewers into a different state of consciousness, offering them access to the “invisible” world.
ger., en., Drawings, Giclée-Print, parts handcolored , leporello in wooden box, 24p, 5.1 x 15 inch, Ed. of 12, num., sign., Leipzig, 2024, Edition Bildschriftlich Request of availability backnext