Thomas Baumgärtel, Otto Alexander Jahrreiss Plakat

more than 400 years ago the word PLAKAT -poster is born in the Netherlands. During a war of liberation that lasted more than eighty years, one of the means of communication was to glue printed leaflets to their houses' walls. Since than there have been many useful applications to the medium in public notices and advertisement. Among the most beautiful species are posters for museums exhibitions, inviting us to visit very special shows. Today however, posters in our cities yield more and more to digital formats.

This is where Thomas Baumgärtel intervenes. Bhe is interested in these products of the street, especially what remains after exposure to wind and storm.

The foundation of Thomas Baumgärtel's posters are layers of posters that had been glued to brick walls many years ago. These he turns around so that the brick structure is still visible and covers the surface with a hibernal light blue colour, to give it another chance with different motives. There seems to be a certain scepticism over the fact that this work is build upon fragile grounds. It is not only the material that is under observation, but as well the motive. Here Baumgärtel chooses for example Piet Modrian and Fernand Léger as example, reminiscent of times in in the abyss when new ideas could have changed the world aesthetically to a great planet. To think about Mondrian and Léger today is a wonderful aesthetical enrichment.

It is not the only way to prove how to avoid decay. Baumgärtel chooses all  kind of material to paint and spray on. While thinking about the way of working of his predecessors, he applies new ways of painting and contemporary ideas to existing motives. This does not stop with modern masters, but is applied by the Cologne artist to his Düsseldorf predessors Beuys, Richter, Ueckers. The competition between the cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf thus becomes very relaxed. And to him it is fun to incorporate a lot of comic figures into the art, inviting them to join the company.

We find continuity in visual art and are looking to provide a basis for contemporary art. While there is no safe ground, art constantly has to prove its own value as a safe harbour in stormy weather. Than the task of each new generation is enlightening and should be protected from generation to generation. Thomas Baumgärtel is contributing to make the best aesthetical solutions a pleasing part of our lives.