Rudi Cotroneo

about the artist

In an everyday life plagued by stress and a society that is becoming more and more dynamic, with progress and technology at the center, one increasingly longs for a counter-image, for places where time seems to stand still. His oil paintings represent an ideal and an idyll in which the desire for simplicity and problem-freeness is reflected. The works correspond to a construct that does not exist in its natural form. It's not just about bringing places back to life and presenting them in a new form, but also questioning idealized ideas that are evoked by our environment. In his work he celebrates and questions the history of the medium. The works show an awareness of the continuing importance of painting as a means of communication for the way we experience our daily life. In the works, Cotroneo shows a strong mixture of atmosphere and incident, loneliness and meaningfulness. The paintings depict situations as psychological events and describe travel, transit and places as if from an existential perspective. Her vision is strong, questioning, distant; her sense of place and time is comparable to that of the modern traveler, who is at the same time isolated, stateless, dispassionate and yet vulnerable. Randomness and stasis determine the mood. Color, shape and composition are tense, purposeful and describe situations of "opened consciousness". Poetry and volatility take precedence, the dimensions of heightened moments are transcribed in the medium of painting. The resulting “flatness”, which initially appears clear, striking and often colorful, attempts to create more psychological space that the viewer should use for his own associations.