Bernd Guggenberger occupies with his sophisticated technique a special position within abstract expressionism. This exceptional artist can only be categorised to a limited extent. If echoes of Hans Hartung’s painting or Emilio Vedova’s Art Informel can be recognised, if one believes to recognise the broad brushstrokes of the action painter Franz Kline in his black and white impressions, these perceptions remain on the surface, because Guggenberger develops his own unmistakable signature.
Guggenberger’s works are never hastily thrown together; regardless of their content, they have a strong aesthetic appeal. He paints on white primed hardboard on which the paint can glide, usually applied in several layers on top of each other. He often made the tools for his work himself or added to and refined them. He works with squeegees, wrapped leather cloths, nails and rubberised objects of all kinds. He achieves astonishing three-dimensional effects, sophisticated overlays and pictorial depths. If you look at his pictures close up, there is not an angle that has not been worked out down to the smallest detail.
In agreement with the French architect and urban planner Paul Virilio, Guggenberger is also an analyst of speed and a theorist of the technical acceleration of our lives and the resulting threat to the human environment. His world of images is not least a testimony to modern man’s fear of losing himself in the labyrinth of a world that has become unmanageable and uncontrollable; a reflection of the ‘frantic standstill’ (Paul Virilio) of a society that ‘masters’ time and space in a high-tech way, but at the same time is working on its own extinction, on becoming superfluous.
Dr. Marilies von Brevern (Bernd Guggenberger – Bilder einer immer schneller werdenden Zivilisation)
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Bernd Guggenberger studied German and literature, history, political science, philosophy and sociology in Berlin and Freiburg. Dr phil. habil.; Heisenberg scholarship holder; academic positions at the universities of Berlin, Stanford / CA, Freiburg, Bielefeld, Osnabrück, Meran / IT, and Berlin; most recently Professor of Political Science at the Free University of Berlin and Rector of the Lessing Hochschule zu Berlin. Author of numerous books on political theory and philosophy, cultural and social anthropology, ecology and democratic theory, art and aesthetics; diverse journalistic activities for specialist journals, newspapers (including Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine, etc.), radio and television; publication of poetry and short prose.
First artistic training with Prof. Guido Martini at the St. Blasien College; long-term studio residency at the Villa Mitscherlich (Freiburg); since 1968 regular exhibitions in cultural institutions, galleries, museums in Germany and abroad, including Galeria Aglaia (Florence), PaperArt (Potsdam), Galerie Brechbühl Solothurn (Switzerland), Museum für Neue Kunst (Freiburg), Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Stadtmuseum Paderborn, Galerie Dr Luise Krohn (Badenweiler), Art Exchange Berlin, Project Room Chelsea (Berlin and Cologne).
A number of his works can be found in cultural and educational institutions, galleries and museums, as well as in public and private collections.