Matthias Beckmann
bangaloREsident@1Shanthiroad
As a draftsman, I have been working on picture series about selected locations and institutions since 2002. I draw on site without any photographic aids or preparatory sketches.
So far I worked for example on these drawing sequences: German Parliament Deutscher Bundestag, Romanesque churches in Cologne, Komische Oper Berlin, emergency shelter for refugees in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Mercedes factory in Sindelfingen, Fraunhofer Institute IPA Stuttgart, 88 Berlin studios. I also made numerous graphic documentaries about museums: Kupferstichkabinett Berlin, Berlinische Galerie, Museum of Asian Art Berlin, Art Museum Bonn, Museum Ostwall Dortmund, SMAK Ghent, State Museum Schwerin, Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal etc.
bangaloREsidency project:
Drawing project about the Shantinagar district in Bangalore.
Starting from my accommodation at 1 Shanthi Road, I explore the Shantinagar district in my drawing series.
In my project, I examine modern Bangalore and reflect and update the often colonial tradition of travel artists who documented the country, people, flora, fauna and culture as companions for explorers. As with travel drawings from past centuries, my drawings are interpretations. They reflect my European cultural background, my interests, encounters, readings, previous knowledge.
As a drawing researcher, I am interested in the diversity of Bangalore and the encounter of different temporal, cultural and social levels and speeds. The rapidly growing megacity dominated by excessive traffic, internationally important IT location, combines urban modernity with tradition and the coexistence of different ways of life, with temples and places of worship of different religions, markets, street vendors, exotic-looking colors, fabrics, ornaments ...
Even if I inform myself before the trip, I want to be surprised in Bangalore and record what can be drawn. As with the previous drawing projects, the focus is on observation.
So far I worked for example on these drawing sequences: German Parliament Deutscher Bundestag, Romanesque churches in Cologne, Komische Oper Berlin, emergency shelter for refugees in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Mercedes factory in Sindelfingen, Fraunhofer Institute IPA Stuttgart, 88 Berlin studios. I also made numerous graphic documentaries about museums: Kupferstichkabinett Berlin, Berlinische Galerie, Museum of Asian Art Berlin, Art Museum Bonn, Museum Ostwall Dortmund, SMAK Ghent, State Museum Schwerin, Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal etc.
bangaloREsidency project:
Drawing project about the Shantinagar district in Bangalore.
Starting from my accommodation at 1 Shanthi Road, I explore the Shantinagar district in my drawing series.
In my project, I examine modern Bangalore and reflect and update the often colonial tradition of travel artists who documented the country, people, flora, fauna and culture as companions for explorers. As with travel drawings from past centuries, my drawings are interpretations. They reflect my European cultural background, my interests, encounters, readings, previous knowledge.
As a drawing researcher, I am interested in the diversity of Bangalore and the encounter of different temporal, cultural and social levels and speeds. The rapidly growing megacity dominated by excessive traffic, internationally important IT location, combines urban modernity with tradition and the coexistence of different ways of life, with temples and places of worship of different religions, markets, street vendors, exotic-looking colors, fabrics, ornaments ...
Even if I inform myself before the trip, I want to be surprised in Bangalore and record what can be drawn. As with the previous drawing projects, the focus is on observation.
