Biography

1968 born in Heiligenstadt (Thüringen)
1988-1990 HAB Weimar (today´s Bauhaus University)
1991-1993 Humboldt University - Berlin
Living and working in Berlin and Ihlow (Märkische Schweiz)

Selection of Exhibitions

1996 TU Ilmenau
1997 Club Wydocks - Berlin
1998 Galerie Checkpoint - Berlin
2000 Galerie Krause - Berlin
since 2002 annually open studio in Ihlow during the event "Brandenburger Landpartie"
2002 Galerie ´Zum alten Warmbad´ - Buckow
2002 Brandenburg State Parliament - Potsdam
2003 Federal Armed Forces Hospital - Berlin
2003 Village Church - Dahmsdorf
2003 Galerie im alten Wasserturm - Leinefelde/Thüringen
2004 Nature Park Administration - Märkische Schweiz Buckow,
2005 Town Parish Church - Müncheberg
2005 Savings Bank - Müncheberg
2006 Galerie im Alten Warmbad - Buckow
2006 Kommunität-Grimnitz - Joachimsthal
2006 Berlin Water Supply Services (together with Ernst J. Petras)
2007 Entregalerie - Strausberg
2008 Kunstspeicher Friedersdorf - Friedersdorf
2008 German State School for Ballet and Artistry - Berlin
2008 Opening of own roducer gallery Kunsthalle-Hagedorn
2009 Berlitz Language Center Rostock

Cooperative Exhibitions

2004 Brandenburg State Representation - Berlin
2005 Revision Office Federal Court of Audit - Berlin
2005 –
2006 Savings Bank MOL -  Strausberg
2007 Art Fair - Wilhelmsaue

- Iconic Choreographies of the Social –

The Art Works of Udo Hagedorn

How to depict social interactions in paintings and translate paintings back into social interactions?

The Berlin/Ihlow based artist Udo Hagedorn deals in his works with this issue time and again, always in a different manner. Associating the original meaning of the term "Choreography", describing originally the notation of the ancient greek drama choir´s movements, one could define Udo Hagedorn´s works as the endeavour to create choreographies of the social.
In his paintings Hagedorn developes consistently new figurative languages, testing them in their intensive iconic expressiveness to depict the manifold constellations of human relationsships in the literal sense. So, on the one hand there exist extensive series of paintings where the artist operates with clearly defined colour patches. The thereby emerging shapes in their dynamics are distinctively recognizable as acting protagonists. The painting´s subtitles assist in the interpretation and refer explicitly and typologically to the sphere of human relationships.

 

Following the depiction of cell-structures as used in microbiologics, the artist developes diverse figurative languages to iconically articulate (psycho-) social interaction structures. Primarily in acrylic on canvas, Hagedorn reconstructs the patterns of biological cells with their nuclei and their interconnections into his own "sociogrammatical" depictions of cells. Imagined structures are emerging, picture-relationship patterns which redirect viewers strikingly onto themselves and evoke a reflexion of the own position in the social net of relationships in his realm of life. Other works are characterized by paste-like picture elements applied in an elemental manner. Reduced to pure expression they offer a clear socio-choreographic imagery.

 

An additional fundamental area of Hagedorn´s works are informal, abstract creations which as well reflect vibrant and tantalizing his main topic relationships, although here, the reflexion of the artist´s own self-dependency plays a significant role. Notwithstanding the great experimental transparency these works exhibit a very significant individual style.

However, Udo Hagedorn works with the question of how to depict social relationships in paintings and how to translate paintings back into social relationships not only isolated with the means of painting and prints, but virtually engages himself into social interaction: Art projects like e.g. "Sociograms" try to involve the exhibition visitors actively into the iconic choreography of the social. In the case of "Sociograms" for example, the visitors paint themselves into graphical cell structures, which were previously specified by Hagedorn, and thereby create on their own new "picture-relationship" patterns. In another interactive project which joins the "Talk To Me" cycle of works, the exhibition visitors operate freely with Hagedorn´s figure elements which are provided as set of rubber stamps to create own compositions. Hagedorn accommodates the visitor´s wish for genuine authentic expression by providing with these rubber stamps the means to individually create arrangements of shapes. Thus, visitors internalize the artist´s graphical focus, simultaneously transcending it creatively. What emerges one could call "Communigrams" which again, when exhibited, ignite new communicative relationship dynamics.

Last, but not least: Udo Hagedorn is always seeking for creative, inter-divisional co-operation with other artists. This documents itself into projects where Hagedorn´s paintings are confronted with works of colleagues from the areas of photography, dance-art or literature and into the mutual conceptual developement of art projects and their realization. Particularly in the projects and works which were developed together with colleagues, Hagedorn´s distinct artistic ability for pointed, ironic and self- depreciating dissociation becomes visible.

Leipzig,  March 2009

Dr. phil. Rainer Totzke