Für jeden ein Stück 2006

Siegfried Zademack made this painting, Für jeden ein Stück, with careful and very soft applications of oil paint. The smooth surface and hazy lighting give it a sort of dreamlike quality, as though we’re seeing something not quite real. I think of it a little like a fresco, not in terms of the medium, but how the hazy muted palette and indistinct forms seems to emerge from the depths of the surface. Look at the gestures of the figures. They are all involved in the repetitive action of drawing, or maybe they're writing, in the sand. The figures are all identically dressed in white robes. They bow to their work. In the background, the forms fade into the haze. The circles and lines are so delicate. It’s like an exercise, a form of meditation. It reminds me of Agnes Martin’s grids, in the way that it uses repetition and subtle variation to create a feeling of calm and contemplation. It also makes me think of Hilma af Klint’s symbolic paintings, with a similar sense of mystery. Maybe it’s also a bit like Giorgio de Chirico, with its strange and unsettling atmosphere. In the end, it’s up to you how you interpret it.