Lisi 1979

Editor: Here we have Markus Raetz's 1979 drawing "Lisi," a nude figure constructed from simple lines on paper. The lines are quite stark, almost brutal, and it's hard to get a sense of flow to the form. What's your take on how Raetz approaches abstraction here? Curator: It's like he's wrestling with the figure, isn't it? Taming it, perhaps, into these regimented dashes. I see a deconstruction, a reduction to the most essential elements, yet that very reduction pulses with life! It reminds me of early experiments with digital art – that fragmented feel. Do you get the impression it is kinetic? As if it's in the middle of a gesture? Editor: I do get a sense of movement, almost a stretch. It is so interesting how such minimal marks can achieve that. Curator: Precisely! It’s a conversation between form and void. He uses what's *not* there just as much as what *is.* What do you make of the title itself, simply "Lisi?" Does that give it more context or make it more abstract for you? Editor: I think it's intriguing, really. By giving the work a name, the artist alludes to an individual, grounding the image somehow, yet the image is still abstract. Curator: It becomes deeply personal, almost… playful! And yet those confident lines… it makes one wonder if he’s mocking the traditional portrait, stripping it bare, quite literally and figuratively. It's rather liberating. It also allows the viewer to create his or her own “Lisi.” I can't help thinking the subject becomes very real, in a surreal way, for each viewer. Editor: Thanks, it definitely gives me a lot to consider! Curator: It does the same for me – that’s what art does, doesn’t it? It sparks the mind, challenges the eye, warms the soul.