People and cultures are the focal point of Holger Frischkorn’s suggestive works. The theme of his poster-like, sometimes larger-than-life portraits is his approach to his visual surroundings. In doing so the artists makes use of pop culture vocabulary. For the most part his works are based on excerpts from contemporary media forms. With striking radicalness his lifestyle photographs are transformed into a structure and pictorial language all of their own, such that the matter on which they are based is merely the source but no longer the object of the work. Strong colors, similar to the palette used for pop art is typical of Frischkorn’s oeuvre. In a striking, concrete manner he reveals to the observers of his work sharp contrasts, to which they are not accustomed, and which result in new departures in their perception of art. We encounter silhouettes, contours, missing parts as well as heavily stressed characteristics. His painting works, over long periods of time, its impact never waning. Frischkorn creates characters from details. He displays moving aspects of social classes. He illustrates a view of things that in his paintings is not merely coherent in terms of form but in terms of content also becomes a vehicle for statements. This succinct style of painting really removes the exotic, urban motifs from the canvas. The suggestive impact of the pictorial language thereby appears so forceful that on an interpretation level the shy, taciturn artist actually makes cultural, political statements. It captivates us with an emotional power we are unable to resist. And perhaps it is precisely this emotional power with which he challenges the observer.

Melanie Schmitt