Artists are the spokespeople of our times and can play a crucial role in provoking conversations and challenging the status quo. Oliver Westerbarkey communicates within his work that nature can exist without humankind, and it is in fact humans who cannot exist without a relation to their surroundings. The preservation of the plant parts stand in contrast to the fact that nature indeed never really stands still. The work is neither a true representation of nature nor even a complete falsification. Westerbarkey's works thus both preserve and imitate nature at the same time. They highlight all these little objects in nature we easily overlook, and thus let us meditate on the ecological system at large.
Artists are the spokespeople of our times and can play a crucial role in provoking conversations and challenging the status quo. Throughout history, we have repeatedly seen humankind attempt to control nature, as depicted in the Baroque gardens of the late 16th century, whose geometric design symbolized the power of man over nature.
In 2020, 68projects begins the year with an exhibition by Oliver Westerbarkey, who instead communicates through his work that nature can exist without humankind, whereas humans cannot exist without a relationship to their surroundings.
What Westerbarkey has created—dioramas made of natural materials such as dirt and plants—are analogue representations comparable to augmented reality. They exist in the physical world, where what appears most alive in the work is, in fact, the most artificial. The experience of real-world environments is mediated through the perceptual distortion of real objects rather than through computer-generated information. Westerbarkey’s works thus preserve and imitate nature at the same time. They highlight the small elements of nature that are easily overlooked, encouraging contemplation of the ecological system as a whole.
The preservation of plant parts stands in contrast to the fact that nature never truly stands still. The work is neither a faithful representation of nature nor a complete falsification. The artistic approach is one of questioning and ambiguity; the truth of the work lies in the interpretation of each viewer.
The works may transport the viewer to memories of places or childhood experiences, or—through the museum-like quality of the diorama—evoke the feeling of historical archaeological findings. The term diorama derives from the Greek meaning “to see through.” At the beginning of the 20th century, dioramas were a major attraction of the first natural history museums, offering illusionistic representations of nature—allowing reality to “shine through.” Westerbarkey’s works pursue a similar aim.
This historic essence of preservation is abruptly interrupted by the immediacy of real objects in the present, which are deformed and overpainted by the artist using added light and shadow. A loosening of traditional ideas of time is perceptible, as the works exist simultaneously in the past, present, and a visualization of an unknown future.
At first glance, the works appear to be monumental photographs. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that they are composed of real objects from nature. As writer Claudia Fischer notes, this realization disrupts the certainty of a fixed perspective and draws the viewer into an artificial natural scenario—awakening a sensual desire to become part of these environments. The works convey not foreignness, but intimacy and a feeling of home, articulated through the artist’s meticulous approach and dedication to every minute detail.
Oliver Westerbarkey (born 1969 in Konstanz, Germany) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich after training as a stonemason. From 2002 to 2005, he was a master student of Prof. Spangenberg. He lives and works in Munich and has exhibited widely throughout Germany, including at the Alte Akademie, Rathausgalerie, and Haus der Kunst in Munich. His solo exhibition POST MODER was shown at Kunstverein Rosenheim, and further exhibitions followed at Kösk Munich and Kunstverein Ebersberg. In 2020, a group exhibition with Galerie Kornfeld in collaboration with the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg was planned.