Since his first works “ expressionnistes de science-fiction Centered on characters who seem to belong to space as much as to an occupied cultural Europe, to his exploration of the confines of abstraction with his not so black N-Bilder, Butzer emerges as a perpetually creative colorist, who s ‘invents a new beginning with each canvas.
« I try to reproduce all my images as often as possible to make them less austere. So I do mass culture. At the same time, seriality is something I have always wanted to destroy. This is why I make so many works that seem serial but which in fact are not at all », He indicates.
« This was the case with these characters, who were seemingly endless typologies. Signs of life. They perhaps evoke the vast space where the human soul resides. Each character is an individual and each image is individual. »
Rich in a wide range of influences, including Friedrich Hölderlin, Edvard Munch, Walt Disney and Henry Ford, he creates a fictional universe that revolves around the planet NASAHEIM. A colony inhabited by the “free Siemens”, kinds of big jovial heads with big eyes, incarnations of utopian ideals and of the economic thought which engendered mass consumerism: the artist also allows himself romantic projections by invoking the figure of the Wanderer, or confronts the political past of his country through the prism of shame.
In the early hours of the new millennium, colors take their independence and transform into abstract compositions crossed by free lines. Always venturing closer to the limits of painting, Butzer explores from 2010 the dimensions and fundamental possibilities of his chosen discipline with his series of almost black color fields, the N-Bilder.
In 2018, Butzer moved to California where he only painted outdoors all year round. His recent works vibrate with freshness and color, punctuated by lines and silhouettes which, although familiar, exude a new maturity, acquired in the confines of abstraction.
This monograph is the first book to present the full scope of Butzer’s work, from 1999 to 2021, and highlights the almost musical progression of his work, to the heady rhythm of returns and new beginnings. The plates are interspersed with contemporary quotes from the artist revealing the syncretic approach underlying his work, as well as photos taken from his archives.
credit photos © Bags
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