Defying easy categorization, the work of Frank Gerritz is at first glance minimalistic, but upon closer inspection overflows with meticulous detail and intriguing materiality. At Galerie Haas Zürich, a dynamic selection of both historic and recent works by Gerritz are the subject of “Seraphic Light,” a solo show that highlights the artist’s distinctive choice of materials and surface treatments. On view through December 21, 2024, the exhibition offers viewers insight into not only his oeuvre, but, together, his practice and approach from a holistic perspective.
Originally from Hamburg and currently based in Munich, Germany, Gerritz works primarily with monochrome color palettes, but where color is limited the diversity of materials is not. Using everything from oil paint stick and pencil to cast iron and anodized aluminum, the material complexity of his pieces contributes a subtle yet nuanced depth to his oeuvre. This is further heightened by each works execution, marked by its precision and underpinning systems of geometry, proportion, and line.
In “Seraphic Light,” works from a variety of Gerritz’s important bodies or groups of work illustrate his ongoing interrogations of both medium and composition. Examples like Counter Rhythm (2024), composed in pencil on MDF board, at a distance appears a straightforward, geometric study in monochrome, but examining closer reveals a constellation of detail, evoking ideas around the boundaries of perception and visual weight. Earlier works like Meeting (2003), comprised of three parts including solid cast iron sculptural piece and pencil on paper drawings. Displayed both on the wall and on the ground, the work brings into the third-dimension similar ideas around visual weight and perception, as well as the ways in which perception can be manipulated, both in reality and psychologically.
What the exhibition emphasizes perhaps the best from Gerritz’s oeuvre is his use of human proportions in both the creation and display of his work. Using the average bodily form as a starting point, both his two- and three-dimensional shapes and forms are based on strict parameters from which all subsequent choices are based. Using light and dark, vertical and horizonal lines, as well as taking into consideration qualities of physicality and absence, the result is a body of work that invites viewers to interrogate the bounds of their own perception, and a glimpse into Gerritz’s own creative world.
“Frank Gerritz: Seraphic Light” is on view at Galerie Haas Zürich through December 20, 2024.
