JENA Düsseldorf is now available from HENI Publishing
First published in 2011, the book follows Sabine Moritz (b. 1969) and her artistic development, which began in 1989 at Offenbach University of Art and Design and continued in 1991 at the fine arts academy Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.
Following the publication of Lobeda, a collection of homogenous early drawings, in 2010, the pictures featured in JENA Düsseldorf have greater diversity in terms of content and form, reflecting Moritz's steady progression as an artist. Moritz brings scenes to life with vibrant colours and experimental brushstrokes, creating a range of textures and atmospheres in a variety of media including oil, acrylic, charcoal, and colour pencil.
The repertoire of architectural motifs is expanded to include places of remembrance in the GDR (East Germany), sculptures in public spaces, and the typology of ‘empty places’. Some of the motifs from Lobeda reappear and are altered, drawing attention to the dynamic aspect of the process of recollection.
The book also features an introduction by Hans Ulrich Obrist, followed by a conversation between Obrist and Moritz in which the artist talks about her personal life and her memories, and makes reference to specific works. The modest and compact book, packed with over 150 colour illustrations, shows by way of example her search for an artistic position on her route from Jena to Düsseldorf.