E-mail-address of the
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The Profile
of the creative Artist Peter M. Bauer
in the Art Gallery
of the Hotel Pousada Peter,
Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil,
with artworks of tapestries, ceramics, collages, abstract paintings and figurative paintings
Peter M. Bauer
Artist
Profile of the Artist
Peter M. Bauer was born in Wolnzach, Bavaria. As early as 1960 he had to do with fine arts. In Stuttgart he did ceramics, tapestry, batik and masks. For four years he studied fine arts with Master Gerhard Schmid and a further three years with Dodo Kroner. Since 1967 he has concentrated on painting. In 1970 he developed a very personal painting technique and abandoned painting portraits in favour of details of flora and fauna. His motives are fishes, birds, fruits, and mystical unicorns, motives he has remained faithful to over all these years. His paintings may be both small or huge in size.
When, in 1987, Peter M. Bauer spent his holidays in Pernambuco, Brazil, he discovered the charm and magic of Olinda. He immediately fell in love with this town. In 1991 he purchased the historic house in 215 Rua do Amparo and from then on divided his time working in Stuttgart and painting in Olinda. His dream to settle in this town, classified a World Cultural Heritage, has now become reality. Since the opening of both, Hotel Pousada Peter and his studio in Rua do Amparo 215, Bauer has received people of all countries and continents. He is visited by tourists from other centres of Brazil and from all over the world.
Peter M. Bauer has always played an active role in the German art scene. He has had a great number of exhibitions in numerous cities of Germany and the USA. His paintings can be found in private collections all over the world as well as in many European galleries and museums. In Brazil he did a series of very successful exhibitions: in Patrymony Corpo e Arte (1995), Guararapes shopping centre (1996), Oficina do Sabor/ Olinda (1998) and the opening show of his studio in 215 Rua do Amparo (1999). His manager is Valdi Coutinho, journalist, art critic, artist and dramatist.
The artist Peter M. BauerLooking for a synthesis
The artist organises chaos. He classifies shapes. He attaches a meaning and a goal to the phenomenon of visual perception. By viewing the world his way, he creates new insights into the world.
In his work Peter M. Bauer takes up certain experiences. They are visual documentations manifesting and completing themselves in a series of corresponding paintings. His intention is to analyse and to dissect a chosen topic through time and space.
In the face of reality the artist uses an almost scientific approach, annihilating secondary points of view and concentrating on the essential power of the object to be analysed. Here synthesis is the instrument of reason. It is the basis and starting point of any creative process "Viewing is owning from a distance" , says Merleau-Ponty. And an artist needs such a distance to acquire the object of his studies. In all the motives constituting the topoi of the artists, basic aspects of the object in question are more important than chromatic decisions. The background is considered neutral space whose lucidity reminds us of the tropic light as well as of a decision for spiritual clarity. The emphasis lies on the matter and the host of figurative formal elements which seem to flee their painted shapes. Peter M. Bauer successfully masters threedimensionality creating a synthesis of sculpture and painting.
As an artist with a comprehensive European education his precise knowledge of the materials used in abundant. To all this artist attaches a poetic charm which is the result of the light and sagas of the tropics in particular the secrets and beauty of Olinda, the town Peter M. Bauer has adopted as his new cosmos. Not yearning for the folkloristic and avoiding any exaggerated baroque which often fools strangers, Peter M. Bauer develops discrete paintings in which beauty is revealed as sweetly and enigmatically as in Mona Lisa's smile. The secret of discovering simple things is the biggest challenge for modern man. Much too often is he forced to follow the seducingly fast rhythm of life in his quest for the unheard of, forced by a society governed by mass culture and the dictate of fashion. In the midst of this din, Bauer presents us with an art, beautiful and simple, stimulating both, senses and mind. His art is the visual balm for body and soul drained by the strain of daily life. Let's salute and enjoy the works of Peter M. Bauer!
Marcus de Lontra Costa
Director of the Museum of Modern Arts Aloisio Magalhães
Rua da Aurora - Recife - Pernambuco - BrazilRecife, August 1999
Please mouse-click on the pictures for close-ups !
