Sottorealism

The term Sottorealismus (of sotto Italian for " below" or "under" Latin realistic " concerning the matter "; res, " matter, thing" ) refers to an aesthetic approach to painting, photography and literature.

Conceptual history

The American art historian Carol Strickland (born 1946) first used the term Sottorealismus or sottorealism in an essay published in 2006, under the heading " Detour as a Route to Unity and Order" authored ( The detour as the road to unity and order ). In this text, which is an exploration of the imagery of the German / Greek painter Aris Kalaizis, it justifies its neologism:

Promise " Flushed with ambiguity his pictures reveal what they hide yet. But even on closer examination, their multiple layers of meaning are inexhaustible. Perhaps a new term is more significant for the description of his work as the concepts of realism or surrealism. Instead of sur, this means over or above, Sottorealismus is more appropriate here. Sotto ( or below ) points to the hidden in a color secrets that are buried under the surface of the story. "

Concept

Instead of a surreal world over to paint it interested the Sottorealisten to get below the surface of the real. Because the dream is not a creative act itself, and understands the use of even the sharp lens to convey no enigmatic image of the real, the perception of what is given is for the first Sottorealisten important than the mere, caused by the dream scenario. The Sottorealist recognizes the acting in empirical reality forces (about the dream, the memory of the numinous ) and gives in his work these past the reality underlying forces validity in which he introduces as visible and tangible dimension to the factory.

To get behind the appearance of things, the Sottorealist constructs a model, which he approaches through intense contemplation before he reaches the area changed, a displaced world.

Method

In the execution of this conceptual approach includes extensive real structures and models. This can take place in the wild or in the studio in a public space. They are what the artist presents himself as epitome, under actual conditions at the test sites. Thus, the process of building a model including, for example, actors and live animals to a part of the artwork.

In painting, Aris Kalaizis has appropriated this concept as the first painter and manufactured structures and models in advance to work at the easel.

Representative

Prominent Sottorealisten are the Canadian photographer Jeff Wall, the Finnish photographer Ilkka Halso and the American Gregory Crewdson. In addition, the German photographer Thomas Demand is attributed to the Sottorealismus.

In painting, this approach is unique and is used by the Greek -born painter from Leipzig Aris Kalaizis.