Die Welle 2004

Rolf Ohst’s 'Die Welle' is a painting of a body on a beach, and a looming sky. The colours are creamy and cool, but it's the kind of muted tone that makes you feel rather than think. I can imagine Rolf in his studio, maybe in a small seaside town, grappling with the physicality of paint to express his ideas. The way he's handled the flesh is very knowing – a gentle modelling to suggest form and weight. I imagine he would have stood back, squinted his eyes, and then gone back in with a small brush to pick out highlights on skin, the kind of thing that makes you think of Titian or Rubens. There is a vulnerability in this pose, maybe a desire to return painting to the body, and an effort to see the world in a new way. This painting is an offering, and part of a bigger conversation, where each artist contributes their own view of the world.