Unter Anderen
Philipp Renda
16.6-10.7.2021
What do these people have to hide? From others and from themselves. Which relationship do they seek, which do they shy away from? These are the questions Philipp Renda’s drawings awaken in us. We see individual figures. Facing us in a cautious way. Reserved. Individuals – isolated? Individuality promises freedom. But how much does it drift into individualism and how much individualism into isolation?
After the Covid-restrictions have loosened, we can let ourselves be carried along by the rush of urban life. Without having to do much ourselves. Just being there stimulates our spirits, creates opportunities for community. However, we cannot say how reliable it is. There is a danger of losing oneself in it as an individual. Especially if one’s own sensations and feelings are not perceived attentively. Then no intact relationship can be established.
An invitation to change perspectives. Connected with the question of who is observing whom here. When we look at Renda’s drawings of ravens or deer. Animals, according to the artist, do not hide their feelings. They show them directly. They show us how. Renda’s animal drawings can inspire us to perceive our feelings better – and to express them. In order to become more capable of relating.
His drawings and large-format canvases are poetic positions. Presented with fine, but not delicate, rather with strong strokes. Reductions to the essential.
Renda was born in Munich in 1989. He studied fine arts in the class for graphic arts and printmaking at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna from 2010 to 2016. First under Prof. Siegbert Schenk, then under Prof. Jan Svenungson.
