.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
Blick in die Ausstellung
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
.jpg "Blick in die Ausstellung")
Project #23: Tree of Life
CONCEPTBased on Günter Beier's painting of a bird's nest, a tree takes center stage as the bearer of life. Nest, bird, blossom, and fruit represent a cycle: shelter, movement, growth, and maturity. Four artistic positions unfold a multi-layered image of nature as a living system.
With spring, life visibly returns. Birds nest in trees, finding shelter and food there. Flowers open, fruits ripen and are eaten. This close interdependence shapes the ecological structure - even if it often takes a back seat in everyday human life.
POSITIONS
An abandoned bird's nest takes center stage. Painted with precision, branch by branch, its complex construction becomes comprehensible. What appears empty refers to origin and return.
In contrast, stylized birds move in a continuous computer animation across two screens. Reduced to clear contours and flat shapes, liveliness is created with minimal means. At the same time, the movement remains programmed and endlessly repeated—a digital symbol of nature that stands between symbolism and apparent vitality.
Blossoming almond branches unfold in rich colors against an intense sky. Growth appears powerful and resilient.
Shiny cherries, painted here in a close-up view, represent ripeness and abundance. Light reflections give them an almost physical presence. As the fruit of the tree, they are food for birds - here, too, the cycle is complete.
The tree as a whole remains invisible, yet it is present: as a habitat, as an origin, as a provider. Nature appears here not as landscape, but as concentrated detail. Between construction and growth, digital simulation and painterly presence, the “tree of life” unfolds as a contemporary image of the cycle of life.
ARTISTS and WORKS
Günter Beier (*1959, Wuppertal) lives and works at Lake Constance. His realistic paintings examine structures that are often overlooked in everyday life.
Günter Beier, Vogelnest 8, 2008, oil on canvas, 170 x 260 cm
Katharina Gierlach (*1983, Würzburg) lives and works in Cologne. Her paintings focus on plants and their resilience.
Katharina Gierlach, Mandelblüte, 2025, oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm
Katharina Gierlach, Mandelblüte II, 2025, oil on canvas, 70 x 55 cm
Julian Opie (*1958, London) lives and works in London. With his clear pictorial language, he transforms classic motifs into a contemporary, digital visual world.
Julian Opie, Crow pecking & Crow turning, 2018, computer animation on a LCD monitor
Charlotte Trossbach (*1985, Mainz) lives and works in Cologne. Her works condense photographic snapshots into intense still lifes of everyday life.
Charlotte Trossbach, Kirschen III, 2020, oil on canvas, 120 x 100 cm
