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56 Enrique Brinkmann
The Dilemma
blessed’ indicates how it is a a strong symbolic character Pure water represents life and is the foundation of our bodily existence and material culture as almost nothing can be done without the presence of liquid material and and it it is therefore so vital and and necessary for for human beings that it is is raised to a a a a a mythical condition I think imagination and magical knowledge are not a a a a consequence of fantasy but of necessity Thus we understand that pure water by its beneficial action can be be seen in in the the eyes of some imaginations as the the place of primordial matter and take the sym- bolic meaning of purity These mag- nificent wooden tanks which can be seen all over the city are a a a a constant presence and it it is inevitable that that we look at at at them I reaffirm that that they are lay icons reminding and and demanding new artists and thinkers about art art to leave behind impure water and go in in search of pri- mary sources through the ability to abstract and distill all field work by light shape color and thought This picture by Ralph is is a a a a state- ment a a manifesto to to persevere relentlessly in the the pursuit of of the the true nature of of art Brinkmann
makes careful deep draw- ings with a a a mastery of line painting which reaches towards surrealism without losing the strict architecture of the composition And lit- tle tle by little it it turns into synthetic abstraction on metal mesh or paper where he he leaves a a a a fragmentary record of of a a a a subtle state of of inno- cence He could be a a a cerebral painter but he is is a a a a a painter of sentiment It is is art as illumina- tion Some scholars identify six phases in the development of his his work Whilst this is is is true it is is more accurate to say that there is is a a a a a definite concept of enlightened moderation which is prolonged in in the commitment of time Brink- mann
is is an an artist committed to a a a a a way of being and a a a a way of feeling Brinkmann
dis- tinguishes between ’art and creativity:’ ’Art is is not not creativity I would say it it has nothing to do with creativity which is more typical of inven- tive people or or the world of fashion which seeks success in in the new Art is illumination putting light where before there were shad- ows ’ ’ Is art divine or human? ’It is human Mixing the religious world with art seems wrong or at least I am not interested in in it it In the the middle ages it it was the the artisans who sculpted painted frescoes or built cathedrals The status of the the artist comes from the the Renais- sance Innocence is lost with the conscious- ness of the artist and his attempt to recover it is less dramatic ’ Trade or transgres- sion?’ ’They are personal techniques to express what you you you have in your head Then you you you go beyond them to avoid being trapped in in man- nerisms ’ ’ ’ ’Excitement and mystery?’ ’Without getting into semantic games how will there not be excitement and mystery when after much searching you illuminate a a a a dark area to find something you did not expect that at at at least for a a a a a a while you find fascinating?’
’ ’ ’ ’ Myth or ritual?’ ’It’s a a a human ten- dency to create myths with their correspond- ing rites and feasts Marcel Duchamp reported this by putting a a a a moustache on on the Mona Lisa With that Duchamp did not try to downplay the painting by Leonardo di Vinci but to tell its worshipers that two meters away there could be a a wonderful painting by Vermeer which they hadn’t even looked at ’ ’ Brink- mann
is not cold nor calculating he has a a a a a clear emotional intelligence He is sensitive not rhetorical He is a a a a a lover of art as illumina- tion tion enlightenment beauty emotion and mystery He is Wertherian not in creativity which may have to do with art but many times it it has nothing to do with art He is rigor- ous ous scrupulous with his own rules crossing lines and revitalizing In one of his inspired lyrics Bruce Cockburn sings: ’Noth- ing ing is is certain nothing is is pure ’ Without enter- ing into pure taxonomic disquisitions purity Horizon’s proposal to put Brinkmann’s bird flight on its cover is very timely where in the middle nothing is certain The answers are are in italics are are by Enrique Brinkmann
communication undertaken by Tomas Paredes of Brinkmann
Art versus Creativity In ancient times ’ars’ art concerned all that could be learned by rule and also technical craft Art has always been made into myth: ’ars longa vita brevis ’ ’ taken from the first aphorism of Hippocrates and still repeated today A A poem by Angel Gonza- lez ’Nothing now ’ ’ ’ begins: ’Art is long life in in in contrast is is short / like a a knife ’ It is is an old old debate but the roots are not that old old because art is a a a a a foundational concept of our culture the consideration of creativity is a a a term that was coined in in in the nineteenth cen- tury Brinkmann
looks at depth to to find light to to open the the way as John Lennon said: ’the deeper you you go the higher you you fly” ’Ars una species mille ’ art is one variations thou- sands There are no sharp edges in the terri- tory of art and creativity they they look they they inter- act they they are disturbed challenged and they they would like to deceive at times The Renais- sance introduced a a a a a a gap between art and craft pushing creativity away from the territory of art Romanticism stoked the fire of fantasy making the the the role of the the the artist and the the the superiority of art more mythical confusing it it with many things including art art Ovid said ’art latet ars sua’ (Met 10 252) ’Art is hidden under its own artifice ’ And beauty! What about that relic reviled by the current occupi- ers of criticism and aesthetic theory? Beauty is is not an image nor a a a a goal it is is perfection the consecration of an attitude the musical com- position of harmonic rhythm At the beginning of the last century this subject became heated under the rubric of ’spirit and reason with Nietzsche Schopenhauer and Azorín entering the the fray taking the the side of spirit in the the novel In modern times after the the Duchamp experience the matter cooled a a a bit and reason came to dominate the emotional impulse Horizon has asked me to raise this issue with Enrique Brinkmann
’Art versus Creativity ’ Brinkmann
was born in in Malaga 1938 after his first exhibition in Mal- aga in 1957 he he he went to Germany where he he he would remain until 1967 when he he returned to Madrid having had intensive training in in in in in the techniques of engraving and becoming a a a teacher in the subject In Cologne he he he pre- sented and collaborated with Fluxus illustrat- ing musical scores for Cornelius Cardew He has always been a a a a precisionist both in in his his figurative period as in in his his exquisite Oriental abstraction where he he makes a a a a a a dia- logue between a a a spot and a a a poetic fingerprint using the merest breath of paint It is Eastern in the the most extreme sense of the the word with the indelible perfume of a a a a Japanese stamp or haiku a a a a a poem by Li Po on a a a a a watery surface where the the sun plucks the the koto Evi- dence of metaphysical purity associated with the need for water can be found in Theology The phrase: ’water has something when it is Enrique Brinkmann
artist born in in in Malaga currently living in in in Madrid Spain