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Sunday, April 19, 2015

Giselbert Hoke 1927 -2015

Yesterday, on Saturday, the 18th of April 2015, Giselbert Hoke, one of Austria's great painters died in a Klagenfurt hospital.
I was priviledged to get to know him and to produce a DVD of some of his work.
He was a prolific artist and I spent almost three days photographing and discussing his work.
(well, he did the discussing, I did the listening)
I wish I had recorded our conversation. As it is, however, I best remember one exchange:
When I referred to his work as "abstract", he said this:

In order to paint in the abstract, you need an object. In my work, the painting is the object.

It took some time to fully understand the meaning of this comment.

Here are some images I took back in 2011.


Giselbert Hoke, in 2011


He was always ready to assist me by holding several of his works in the best possible light.







Giselbert and his "Nada" collection:
He is reported to have said (not to me):
"You like Nothing, you feel Nothing, You love Nothing and you hate Nothing.
Then your Nothing becomes Something."


Frankly, I cannot combine the alledged above statement
with the work of an artist.

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