2024
Julius Weiland – Painting versus Glass!
Julius Weiland is best known for his artworks made of glass, which can be found in many renowned collections (Victoria & Albert Museum, Museum Kunstpalast, Würth Collection, Veste Coburg Art Collections and the Glasmuseum Lette). In recent years, the artist has added painting to his practice, exhibiting these works alongside his glass art.Now the Berliner-by-choice Julius Weiland is coming to Lette to present a type of exhibition that is a first even for the Glasmuseum, because his glass art will be accompanied by his paintings, not displayed in isolation but in the context of glass objects that have in some cases been made expressly for this show. Thus the title “Painting versus Glass!” The materiality of the two media could not be more different, and yet these works are united by the theme of architecture.
In fact, architecture was the inspiration for this series of works. The focus is on post-war construction in East Berlin from the 1960s to the 1980s in a style that is referred to as Brutalism in the West and Socialist Modernism in the East. Weiland himself lives in a block of flats from this period, in a building ensemble called “Platz der Vereinten Nationen” (United Nations Square, formerly Leninplatz) that was once a prestige project and symbol of the progressive attitude of former East Germany. Today his apartment building is a listed monument. Weiland’s paintings of this building and others, such as those in the High-Deck housing estate in Neukölln, start with pencil sketches on canvas, which he modifies here and there, leaving things out and alienating the real-life model. The resulting oil paintings are perspectival renderings made up of homogeneous-looking horizontal and vertical colour fields that remain distinct from one another, neither melding nor overlapping. Although this approach transforms the built architecture into a flat, two-dimensional view, the many shifts in perspective create a virtual spatiality that is echoed in the paintings’ counterparts – the glass objects – with an actual three-dimensional spatial experience. This juxtaposition is further enhanced by the transparency of the glass.
Weiland’s artistic intention merges with social concerns, as the buildings he depicts were once highlights of visionary social housing, which often pursued a certain ideology but was ultimately unable to meet people’s needs due to design flaws and austerity measures. The artist responds to this historical circumstance by likewise reducing and minimising his paintings, in the end revealing only the basic structure of his architectural models. He then transfers this structure to the medium of glass, extracting geometric shapes, lines, polygonal elements and patterns from the picture surface and recreating them in the glass object. The result is a new combination of motifs that play across the glass volume, either loosely assembled or condensed, or sometimes blown up to larger proportions. Whenever Weiland considers a pictorial motif to be particularly important, he makes it the main theme of his glass object. The colours in the glass are based on the painted picture, with the light making the object glow. This creates a vibrant atmosphere that is lacking in both painted and real architecture.
Weiland’s art covers a broad and varied spectrum, as demonstrated on the second level of the Glasmuseum, where his early works in glass are on view, fused glass tubes that often exhibit a playful dynamic. The artist received international awards for his work with glass tubes. In the course of his development, he then changed their design, size and density. Later, he turned to mouth-blown glass, producing multicoloured, upbeat works that are sometimes figurative. All of them attest to how Julius Weiland is constantly engaged in reinterpreting glass and enriching the world of glass art.
Photo credit:
Photo above: Julius Weiland, Aubette (Cinema), Öl auf Leinwand, 2023 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Eric Tschernow
Photos from left to right:
Julius Weiland, Wandelhalle, Öl auf Leinwand, 2022 + Modular 1, 2024 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Polygon, 2022 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Fred auf der Treppe, Öl auf Leinwand, 2020 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Formation 3, 2023 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Slump, 2022 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Untitled V, 2019 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, High Deck 2, Öl auf Holz, 2022 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Ephemeral Purple, 2012 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Blue Sky, 2018 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Down the Rabbit Hole, 2017 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Eric Tschernow
Julius Weiland, Matrix, Öl auf Holz, 2022 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, o.T., 2002 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Horst Kolberg
Julius Weiland – Painting versus Glass!
Julius Weiland is best known for his artworks made of glass, which can be found in many renowned collections (Victoria & Albert Museum, Museum Kunstpalast, Würth Collection, Veste Coburg Art Collections and the Glasmuseum Lette). In recent years, the artist has added painting to his practice, exhibiting these works alongside his glass art.Now the Berliner-by-choice Julius Weiland is coming to Lette to present a type of exhibition that is a first even for the Glasmuseum, because his glass art will be accompanied by his paintings, not displayed in isolation but in the context of glass objects that have in some cases been made expressly for this show. Thus the title “Painting versus Glass!” The materiality of the two media could not be more different, and yet these works are united by the theme of architecture.
In fact, architecture was the inspiration for this series of works. The focus is on post-war construction in East Berlin from the 1960s to the 1980s in a style that is referred to as Brutalism in the West and Socialist Modernism in the East. Weiland himself lives in a block of flats from this period, in a building ensemble called “Platz der Vereinten Nationen” (United Nations Square, formerly Leninplatz) that was once a prestige project and symbol of the progressive attitude of former East Germany. Today his apartment building is a listed monument. Weiland’s paintings of this building and others, such as those in the High-Deck housing estate in Neukölln, start with pencil sketches on canvas, which he modifies here and there, leaving things out and alienating the real-life model. The resulting oil paintings are perspectival renderings made up of homogeneous-looking horizontal and vertical colour fields that remain distinct from one another, neither melding nor overlapping. Although this approach transforms the built architecture into a flat, two-dimensional view, the many shifts in perspective create a virtual spatiality that is echoed in the paintings’ counterparts – the glass objects – with an actual three-dimensional spatial experience. This juxtaposition is further enhanced by the transparency of the glass.
Weiland’s artistic intention merges with social concerns, as the buildings he depicts were once highlights of visionary social housing, which often pursued a certain ideology but was ultimately unable to meet people’s needs due to design flaws and austerity measures. The artist responds to this historical circumstance by likewise reducing and minimising his paintings, in the end revealing only the basic structure of his architectural models. He then transfers this structure to the medium of glass, extracting geometric shapes, lines, polygonal elements and patterns from the picture surface and recreating them in the glass object. The result is a new combination of motifs that play across the glass volume, either loosely assembled or condensed, or sometimes blown up to larger proportions. Whenever Weiland considers a pictorial motif to be particularly important, he makes it the main theme of his glass object. The colours in the glass are based on the painted picture, with the light making the object glow. This creates a vibrant atmosphere that is lacking in both painted and real architecture.
Weiland’s art covers a broad and varied spectrum, as demonstrated on the second level of the Glasmuseum, where his early works in glass are on view, fused glass tubes that often exhibit a playful dynamic. The artist received international awards for his work with glass tubes. In the course of his development, he then changed their design, size and density. Later, he turned to mouth-blown glass, producing multicoloured, upbeat works that are sometimes figurative. All of them attest to how Julius Weiland is constantly engaged in reinterpreting glass and enriching the world of glass art.
Photo credit:
Photo above: Julius Weiland, Aubette (Cinema), Öl auf Leinwand, 2023 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Eric Tschernow
Photos from left to right:
Julius Weiland, Wandelhalle, Öl auf Leinwand, 2022 + Modular 1, 2024 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Polygon, 2022 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Fred auf der Treppe, Öl auf Leinwand, 2020 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Formation 3, 2023 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Slump, 2022 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Untitled V, 2019 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, High Deck 2, Öl auf Holz, 2022 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Ephemeral Purple, 2012 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Blue Sky, 2018 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, Down the Rabbit Hole, 2017 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Eric Tschernow
Julius Weiland, Matrix, Öl auf Holz, 2022 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Julius Weiland
Julius Weiland, o.T., 2002 © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024, Photo: Horst Kolberg