WORDS: MIA MEDAKOVIC
INTERVIEW: PAUL RICHARD LANDAUER
PHOTO: ALEKSANDAR BUBALO
PAUL RICHARD LANDAUER IS AN AUSTRIAN ARTIST WHO’S PROLIFIC CREATION OF ART MADE HIM ONE OF THE MOST EXHIBITED ARTISTS IN SERBIA, CURRENTLY. BESIDES A SOLO SHOW AT THE GALLERY OF MODERN ART OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SMEDEREVSKA PALANKA AND MANY OF THE MOST ACCLAIMED GALLERIES IN BELGRADE, HIS WORKS ARE PART OF SOME OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS PRIVATE COLLECTIONS IN SERBIA AND ABROAD.
BUT LANDAUER HASN’T ALWAYS LIVED IN BELGRADE. HE WAS BORN IN VIENNA (1974) WHERE HE STUDIED ART HISTORY, PSYCHOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS. IN HIS EARLY YEARS HE EXPLORED MANY DIFFERENT CREATIVE MEDIUMS ASIDE FROM PAINTING AND WORKED AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, CAMERAMAN AND FILM DIRECTOR AND HAS BEEN ADVISING INTERNATIONAL AD AGENCIES IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION. TODAY, LANDAUER IS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST AND CONSTANT MEMBER OF SERBIA’S ASSOCIATION OF FINE ARTS (ULUS) AND LIVES WITH HIS FAMILY IN BELGRADE, SERBIA.
What is art to you?
Art is to me an opportunity to meet yourself and learn about your relation to the world around you. It’s like a mirror to our souls and it’s as complex and contradictory as human existence can be. Art is never finite, because it always continues evolving in the eyes of the audience. The subjectivity of the way an audience perceives an artwork opens infinite versions of an artwork’s impact and purpose. It can calm, irritate, stimulate, cause revelations, open questions, make you happy or sad. Art is the ultimately human miracle.
Why did you choose abstraction as your way of expression?
I always try to keep something open in my works. I wish that an artwork can breathe, has a scent of possibility. Abstraction supports that. The abstract expression allows me to reduce my conscious domination during the process of creation and opens the opportunity of growing beyond the limitations of my persona. Trust is an essential ingredient in that game, also regarding the artwork’s life after it left my studio. The perception of abstract art can be highly subjective. Each spectator can see it in an individual way. That gives room for interpretation, but also allows intense emotional and subjective experiences and you don’t need to be an art expert to experience that. That’s the beauty of it.
You are the painter of large format canvasses. Do you feel fear when you are in front of such a large canvass?
Creating art every day has impacted my life fundamentally. As I´m convinced that one can create art only when being liberated from all fears, it has been a central aspect of my work to learn how to handle my fears and build trust in myself, and the world around me. As a result, I can happily say today, that I have no fears when facing any new, blank canvas. That hasn´t been always like that. But today, I even approach it with great excitement, because every new canvas is an opportunity to explore new worlds, learn new things and hopefully grow beyond myself. The “me” who stands in front of the blank canvas is never the same “me” who will stand in front of the finished painting. This positive power of the process is an opportunity for change and growth and that it is so much stronger than any fear of failing.
The large formats are also supporting me in my endeavor to let go from consciously over-controlling and overthinking the process of creating. The physicality of working with big canvases is a challenge, tests my limits and so distracts me from the boundaries of my conscious thinking and my fears.
Do you have a color which you prefer to use mostly in all your paintings?
The reddish soil, which I find on the Adriatic coast, is one of my favorite materials I work with. I start almost every painting with the ritual of spreading this soil on the blank canvas, which creates a warm tone, which I often intensify with multiple layers of red oil paint. Eventually, these layers create endless and very intense shades of red. I´m a very passionate character and I guess that I just feel connected with the emotional qualities of the color red. These qualities are complex and contradictious and can stimulate and comfort equally. Red is a mysterious and exciting color.
Where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration isn´t a thing that happens in a certain, singular moment and then causes a specific artistic expression. Inspiration is an open and infinite process that happens constantly and subconsciously and can change in its quality through time. My senses are highly active 24/7. They absorb all kinds of impressions and I´m often not even aware of them. I recognize that sometimes days later, when these impressions subconsciously influence my work. I never wait for inspiration. I just need to create – always and every day. It’s like breathing to me.
At the moment you have an exhibition at the Radisson Collection Old Mill hotel in Belgrade called “Open Horizons”. How would you describe your paintings which collectors could buy?
The exhibition “Open Horizons” is an opportunity to see and buy small and mid-format works. It includes some special works which were created on the island Brijuni in Croatia, where I work during the summer. They are result of the magic situation of working with the very soil of the island and in the middle of nature where I find this wonderful material. These works are relics of these magic moments. Some of the mid-format works are done with the same subtle technique of applying multiple layers of translucent oil paint as I usually do on very big formats. The ones in the exhibition “Open Horizons” are smaller pieces, which is a rare opportunity to get one of my artworks that actually fit on the walls of a living room.
This exhibition has a humanitarian character. A portion of the sales will be contributed to the Debra Organization for Children with Butterfly Skin Syndrome.
That’s the most wonderful aspect of this exhibition. As I understand art as a very human process, it’s the most natural step to turn it into a humanitarian project. I’m very proud of being part of this and thankful to RYL magazine and Radisson Collection Old Mill Hotel for inviting me to add an additional purpose to my works.
What is your formula for success and way of living?
Persistency and being ready to keep changing and learning throughout your whole life.
I believe that persistency is much more important than talent or skills. Your talent is what it is and skills anyone can learn, but persistency generates trust and opportunities that leads eventually to success.
But there is a second ingredient, which is important: The capability to embrace change. Whatever dreams or goals we have, it is its nature to be different from the situation we’re currently in. Otherwise, we wouldn’t dream about it. That means that something would need to change, also within ourselves, to reach that dream and turn it into a new reality. If we can’t let go and if we’re afraid of change our dreams will stay out of our reach.
What will be your future steps in the artistic world?
I like to see art as an experience, which inspires me to think about collaborations with people from other disciplines like dance or music. I’m also working on concepts to turn art shows into experiences, beyond the basic approach of just hanging objects on the walls. That’s the beauty of art and creation. It’s a world without limits. The next big solo show will open on October 22nd in Kulturna Stanica Svilara in Novi Sad where you can enjoy an exciting setting of some of my biggest works so far.
The topic of the October issue of the RYL magazine is “Freedom”. How do you live your freedom and what does it mean to you?
The liberation from fears and the cultivation of trust is for me the definition of our inner freedom. It is the highest priority in my journey of life, because I see it as the foundation for everything else, like good relationships, happiness, creativity, balance, and love.
