Wer wir sind

It is The Visual LibraryHerbert Maier’s fascinating project represents a successful attempt at global thinking: it bears witness to the availability of images, the slowness of classical painting as well as his passion for travel and collections. The images with which Herbert Maier returns from all over the world are images that people have created of themselves and of others; they show human culture in all its facets, in its beauty and in its abysmal dimensions. Faces, portraits, heads and masks – hardly any other motif is represented more frequently in the history of art and culture; behind every representation of a human being lies the hope of revealing the quintessence of humanity as such, however stylized or individualistic and naturalistic it may be. For many years, Herbert Maier traveled to various places and regions, to Pakistan, India, Nepal, Mexico, Guatemala, the USA, Israel, Iran and the tribal areas of West Africa. His visual library is closely linked with these journeys. Encounters with other people and the inclusion of their artistic and cultural testimonies his personal imaginary image memory became just as important to him as the examination of Western art. Since 2009, Herbert Maier has been working on this encyclopaedia, which currently contains over 500 watercolours. Watercolour painting, characterized by transparency and lightness, is the only technique that allows the creation of such a large number of images in such a short time. Exhibition: Museum Neuer Kunst, Freiburg, 29/10/2016–26/2/2017