the development of my painting

colour was one of my key concerns early on painting is a matter of colour, the glow of colour in the old masters, above all el greco and rembrandt, as well as the bright, sun-rayed colours of the impressionists through to works of the present have all enthralled me. in music colour is expressed through the harmony. an art of sounding colour arose in early polyphony, evolving via bach, the tristan chromatic and the torrid sound of the schönberg school through to the present.
my earliest and early paintings deal with the colours of the whole scale range. colour acquired a new task as my painting developed into action painting, it was absolved from manifold tone, it was used as substance, it became blood and slime. the colour of meat, blood and intestines became constitutive. red became the key, the dominate note. a monochrome archaic emerged. everything was geared towards the colour of ecstasy, of the sacrificial offering to be slaughtered, of passion, of blood, of flesh. the colour bearing the blood and flesh of god was celebrated constantly. as red consecrated wine it was drunk as the blood of god. substances used as sustenance, their imbibing conditioning metabolism, were and are employed in my painting actions. the colour of aggression, of death, of excess is at the same time the colour of life at its most intense. blood is lifeblood. the depths of death bears within the seed of rebirth. much of my work is realised. breaking free of norms, the almost victim-like exhibitionistic descent beneath the realms of shame into a domain devoid of taboos, into the supra-personal dionysian eros of the world, into the dark chaotic grounds of basal forces, was often undertaken. a great deal of light was drawn into consciousness. my concern now is to analyse this light. flesh and blood can not only be imbibed by eating, it can also be experienced through light.
light’s appearances, the manifold appearances of coloured light, the colours of resurrection have become important to me. despite the tragically excessive life-affirming basic theme of my work this new turn has brought about an unprecedented exhilaration. my paintings are to emit a new stimulant. the colours of all the flowers, of all the cosmic abysses of light are to be staged joyously festively. it was a long-cherished wish to reintroduce the whole colour spectrum into my painting. in summer 1989 i fulfilled this wish. for the first time in 30 years i painted again with different colours. i’m working on the halcyon finale of my gesamtkunstwerk. the wealth of sensations captured by our senses of taste, smell, touch and hearing broadens into an unconditional engagement with the colours of light.