W IX 2006

Joachim Bandau's "W IX" is an intricate dance of layered forms on paper. Bandau, born in 1936 in Germany, lived through a period of immense cultural and political change. His experience of growing up during and after World War II certainly shaped his perspective. The monochrome palette and geometric abstraction remove the figure, but also point to the artist's personal response to the socio-political environment of post-war Germany. Bandau builds up layers of translucent rectangles, using the repetition of form to create both depth and a sense of unease. It's almost as if the artist is building something up only to tear it down again. The density of the black rectangle is arresting, an impenetrable form amidst the ethereal planes. “I want to show how structures emerge and develop, how they can change, break up and disappear," Bandau said. The work seems to ask if we can ever truly escape the shadows of the past or if they will forever shape our present.