The sensual beauty of the world
Gudrun Petersdorff stands, lives - and paints! - in the here and now. In parks, gardens, in the streets of towns and villages, in front of the shoe rack, on the vegetable patch and in the confectionery. And especially by the sea. Her plein air drawings become paintings: strong, fresh and bright, she interprets the colors and combines them to create warmth, depth and closeness, makes them vibrate, glow or sleep and knows exactly when the sea should be purple or the clouds red, the mountains violet and the trees orange.
Just as she wanders through the colors, she also wanders through the shapes. High heels, flowers, hills and cakes unfold a characterful life of their own as shapes in the Petersdorff ductus.
Everything - fashion, food and flora - is translated into joie de vivre. This is not trivial - but a clever and rare plea to celebrate the formal existence of things.
In Gudrun Petersdorff's work, the reduction to form and color can be read as reconciliation; as the liberation of things from expectation, metaphor and value compulsion. These are paintings without any reference or contextual appeal. She thus also paints a longing for unspoiled, perfect simplicity - a strong decision.
The pictorial compliments to the beauty of everyday surroundings are unique in this consistency, even if the artist justifies it modestly: "Sometimes I would like to paint an ugly picture ... but I can't."
Tina Simon, Leipzig, 2024
