Hannes Kater: Right Drawings in Wrong Settings

May 31 – July 3, 2008

Number 35 is pleased to present the work of Berlin-based artist Hannes Kater. Hannes Kater develops his exuberant wall drawings from symbolic, partly-scientific, pictorial worlds. The schematic structures of his works read like diagrams from scientific textbooks, but they are in reality the renderings of a much more personal experience.

The artist has created a vocabulary of pictorial shorthand symbols, which he calls “Darsteller” (performers), that he assembles in drawings on paper and on the wall in an ensemble, as if on a stage. They invite us to read them like a script, but rarely reveal their precise meanings immediately. They are droll and original enough to create a wild cosmos: performers like no. 12, the “bread brain,” who according to Kater stands for “instinct-lead thinking.” Or no. 08, the “mouth-chain,” seen as “talk, gossip, control.” Kater also makes more abstract concepts into images, for example no. 26 stands for ideology, for “detail and limited world picture.” It is possible to read these narratives executed in red or light blue once you understand even just a few key symbols.

Hannes Kater draws his narratives from an open call solicited through his website (www.hanneskater.de).  Anyone can submit a story, anecdote, dream, thought or idea and have it realized as a small drawing. Although these stories are specific to a person, they all carry a universal idea or feeling that is accessible for everyone. Pictured on his site anonymously, they tell tales of grief, joy, confusion, enlightenment, lust, bereavement etc.  He also derives stories from his own life, such as his recent entry into fatherhood. 

“Weekend Update”, Artnet.com, July 3, 2008. Download PDF.