Originally trained as a glass painter in Vienna, Ernst Caramelle has been making his name since the early eighties with a wide-ranging oeuvre of artist's books, posters, works on sun-bleached paper and illusionist wall frescos, in which conceptualism and painting are combined in an extraordinary way. The most eye-catching works are the wall paintings, which demonstrate an unusual mixture of geometric abstraction and trompe-l'oeil. In several layers of thin watercolours and colour pigments, Caramelle applies flat geometric motifs to specific parts of the architecture. The effect is a delicate mix of real and illusory space and architecture, through which Caramelle conquers real space with painted space. Visitors find themselves in a room that has become ambiguous.
Caramelle is making a wall fresco in a big room, and exhibiting works on sun-bleached paper and a few small panels in the room behind it. The porosity of the boundary between reality and illusion, and between real and virtual, is reflected in a glass painting that forms a visual link between the windows of the big rooms on the first and second floors. Caramelle often uses this motif, which is painted on the glass as an open shape that influences the light coming into the room. Caramelle is also placing a few sheets of paper on a table in front of the window on the first floor. These coloured sheets are partially covered and will fade over the months under the influence of the light that enters. Halfway through the year, Caramelle will remove the covering, so that the difference in colour will gradually disappear.
Ernst Caramelle will issue an artist's publication in the spring of 2017, containing illustrations of the work he has created especially for the Bonnefantenmuseum.
