Wolfram Ullrich

Art needs the viewer in order to take on a concrete form. Even Concrete art does. In this constellation, it has the opportunity to remain entirely within itself and to rely on the persuasive power of the actually visible. It can, however, also open up to the viewer by taking to heart the premises of concretion and nevertheless evoke an emphatic illusionism.

In recent years Wolfram Ullrich has increasingly opened up his artistic work in this direction. In doing so, the rational striving for formal rigor is just as important to him as the irrational flipside of its effect. Hence Ullrich’s most recent reliefs initially captivate us with their precise form and coloring. They are polyhedrons on trapezoidal grounds. From their edges, their geometric volume of brushed steel becomes visible; the display side is covered with a monochrome skin of enamel and acrylic paint: blue, salmon, or earthy rust brown.

Moving away successively from the actually visible, these reliefs begin to coil involuntarily. Depending on the viewer’s standpoint, they work their way into the wall or out of it, tip over and become soft, bend over slender shadowy gaps toward the viewer, and finally depart into weightlessness. The illusionistic pull of these works is powerful. But the centrifugal force of Concrete art steadfastly resists it. Thanks to this presumably calculated antagonism of forces, Wolfram Ullrich manages to remain faithful to a strong tradition without succumbing to its conventions.