GOOD POETRY IS HARD TO FIND
"We sang ourselves to sleep at night, travelling in our minds"
- Alf Löhr, January 2021
Alf Löhr: Good Poetry is Hard to Find
Exhibition: Wilcote Studios, Oxfordshire
20 May - 30 June 2020
Alf Löhr’s series, Good Poetry is Hard to Find, was born during lockdown 2020 at a time of great reflection for many. Painted in Löhr’s recognised abstract style using acrylic ink on canvas, each work provokes in the viewer an emotion that carries and reflects our individual experiences and perspectives. The exhibition was held at Wilcote Studios, 20 – 23 May 2020 as Löhr’s first exhibition in Oxfordshire.
Throughout his career, Löhr has exhibited in numerous museums including Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn & Goethe Institute, London and has work in several important collections in USA, UK, Germany and Australia. Branch Arts was delighted to be able to present the first opportunity to view Good Poetry is Hard to Find, which followed Löhr’s 2020 museum exhibition and book, Der Sturm | The Tempest at Staatliches Museum Schwerin, Germany.
Good Poetry is Hard to Find
Good Poetry is Hard to Find is a series of 22 abstract paintings in Löhr’s recognised style presenting a complex interaction between colour, form and pictorial space. He works with many layers of paint on the canvas, mostly translucent, which in the process of painting are sometimes removed again and replaced by new ones. The entire chronology of his working process remains visible through the formations of overlapping, translucent layers of paint.
Löhr’s fluid and mesmerising paintings create a sense of life as a tapestry of experiences. In this new series of smaller works, he has set out to represent emotions felt during lockdown whilst leaving space to furnish the viewer’s own emotion. Unlike previous bodies of work, Löhr has simply numbered the works rather than giving individual titles that imply the author’s own narrative.
Good Poetry Is Hard to Find, 1
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 2
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 3
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 4
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 5
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 6
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 7
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 8
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 9
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 10
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 11
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 12
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 13
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 14
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 15
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 16
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 17
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 18
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 19
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 20
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 21
Good Poetry is Hard to Find, 22
“Whether it is abstract or representational, we find (a painting) beautiful if we can see a pattern in it, a grace of line or movement, harmony or proportion. The eye is caught by a pattern of colour, the way different colours relate to one another; the eye is caught by differentiation and contrast between dark and light, stillness and activity. And yet a painting is lifeless if it is too controlled, too obviously patterned, and organised and its objects too perfect. In truthful art as in a truthful understanding of life there is always a hint or echo of chaos, incompatibility or imperfection.” - Alf Löhr