T E X T S  |   G A L L E R Y
Carlfriedrich Claus Rolf-Herrmann Geller Gabriele Juppe Alojzy Oborny		For Levin Colmar, painting is a dialogue with himself, a sensual chance to get in touch with his own feelings. His paintings take on form while he is working on them, they are continuously changed, discarded, sometimes completely re-worked until they reach the unique and valid endpoint which gives form to the artist's inner imaginations. The layers of color that are produced during the painting process suggests spaces of great density and depth from which moods arise and die away. Amorphous, transparent color tones thicken to become movements, gestures and figures; contours of faces and bodies take on form from imaginary, secret spaces behind the surface of the painting. Gentle landscapes which exude a mysterious, even magical fascination are formed by the colored surfaces. Colmar's work covers the entire spectrum of human experience. The crossroad situations of life are given particularly broad treatment: relationships between man and woman, loneliness, fear, vulnerable and endangered individuals, times of separation and of meeting, of departure and finding one another. These problematic areas are not represented as concrete objects, but rather as sensitive images derived from the subjective realm of feelings that are evoked by these crucial moments. The images confront us with the continual alternation of becoming and passing on, of genesis and decomposition. The large suggestive heads with their reduced physiognomy dominate the canvasses and become metaphors for the existential problems of humans, for strong emotions.  The formats chosen include water colors, large wash compositions on paper, oils, prints, especially woodcuts and lithographs, stone and bronze sculptures, and again and again, poetic texts - some are available on CD - which, in conjunction with the visual works, reveal a new facet of Levin Colmar's work. Most recently, he has turned his attention to photography. There are sensitive studies of artist friends, and a singular subjective series of images from Cuba - in search of the feeling lives of our fellow human beings far from the world of cliches.
		Gabriele Juppe, Chemnitz 2001