Waldermar Zimbelmann "My Hands Have Vanished" at China Art Objects, Los Angeles, California

Throughout the history of Modern and Contemporary Art, there has always been a tension between the figurative and the abstract. The abstracted figure mixes with the recognizable, and the figure is present in the abstract. In Waldemar Zimbelmann's latest show at China Art Object titled "My Hands Have Vanished," explores these tensions and presents the viewer with a challenge to search for the recognizable.

When looking at each painting, one first notices the texture and image that fluctuates between the line and form. Faces seem to appear and disappear on the canvas. Images layer upon each other dissolve the image so that forms are recognizable, but are abstracted so that they are both recognizable and not recognizable.

Once the forms become recognizable, figures begin to appear. Faces of children and babies form on the canvas. Intimate moments become apparent. Zimbelmann's figures resemble the figurative works of Diebenkorn's figurative works from the 1950's. Line, color and composition reveal themselves and form narratives for the viewer to observe. Like ghosts haunting the viewer, the works are phantasms of memory and recollection. Traces of the figure are pronounced once abstracted and figurative simultaneously.

When looking at the Zimbelmann's work, the artist's intent is to present to the viewer a haunting vision of a past and present that is gone. Yet the scenes challenge the viewer into looking for that which is personal, and connecting with the figures portrayed that's formed from line, color and composition. The tactility of the canvas and the figures drawn with light color hues are attractive to the viewer. When a painting forces the viewer into looking at and revealing secrets, the painting succeeds on many different levels. Zimbelmann latest show is that successful Go see.

Waldemar Zimbelmann
"My Hands Have Vanished"
On view until May 14, 2016


China Art Objects
6086 Comey Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034
T: 323.965.2264
info@caog.la
Gallery Hours: 11:00am to 6:00pm
Tuesday through Saturday