The Embracing Space

Matthias Weischer is Builder of Light

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Who doesn’t love the classic story of an outsider, an unassuming competitor who wins the big game and reaches the summit? Not that all art is a competition, or that Matthias Weischer is an outsider, but I assume few people were betting on a young student painting living rooms at the start of the 21st century who goes on to become one of the most recognized names in the world of figurative painting. Or, that his very close group of friends from the academy would end up forming one of the most admired groups of artists at the turn of the century—the New Leipzig School.

Using a humble, universal setting, and an interior corner, Weischer explores light, form, color, and texture, driven by a borderline obsession with space. More precisely, he is obsessed with the magic of painting and the ability to utilize rudimentary tools within two dimensions while manipulating space into an illusion that appears wide, embracing the relationship between pictorial and technical aspects of the work. Just as his seemingly simple compositions captivate and enchant, it was equally pleasurable to listen to the master painter/builder openly share stories, thoughts, beliefs, and aspirations at his home studio in Leipzig’s iconic Spinnerei.

Sasha Bogojev: Let’s sbegin with how and when you developed this interest in creating spaces on the canvas.

Matthias Weischer: I think it started nearly twenty years ago. I was first doing this living room thing, which was kind of inspired by the real existing ones I knew from my childhood, not really from the house where I grew up, but more from friends’ houses. I traveled back there twenty years ago and made photos, so I think that was a kind of starting point.