Der romantische Imperativ

When Werner Büttner began to devote himself to painting in the 1980s, figuration had completely disappeared from the focus of this art movement. The socio-politically charged avant-garde movements belonged to the recent past. However, like Martin Kippenberger, the artist resorts to a simplified style of painting, as can be seen in the large-format painting ‘The Romantic Imperative’. Against the background of a forest landscape in dark green and night black, an art-historical symbol of the subconscious in surrealism, a bright white paper bowl with a currywurst in a fiery red colour floats like a dreamlike apparition. The almost photorealistic depiction of this dish covered in tomato sauce and spice powder, which was probably first served in Berlin after the Second World War, seems like an achievement of our time. Underneath are illegible characters that resemble an inscription in fine strokes.
While the artist, who was born in Jena in 1954, devoted himself to gestural painting in shades of brown in the 1980s, his colour palette has changed since the 1990s to a rich spectrum. Concrete forms now take centre stage, defining his clear, noncommittal visual language. However, Werner Büttner's poetic, subtle titles have been particularly striking from the very beginning. Thus Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative, an Enlightenment declaration that man should use his reason, becomes a symbol of what guides people in the 21st century.