The small drawings have been a part of Wolfgang Martens' artistic work since his school and university days. He has always made these small spontaneous sketches. In the last few years alone, since 2010, he has created around 8000 drawings. Many of the drawings were made during his stays in the restaurants. They are mostly reactions to what he has seen. The food in the pubs stimulates the draughtsman and fires his imagination. Ideas for new pictorial inventions are often developed, and there is an interplay between what is seen and the imaginative pictorial structures. This exhibition takes up the old tradition. Wolfgang Martens began to capture his surroundings in fleeting sketches in restaurants and outdoor cafés, whether in Rome, Florence, Paris or Malta. The atmosphere of these places challenged him to collect and study his drawings. On the study trips or at home in Krefeld, but also in Kronenburg, he used the break with a cup of coffee or a glass of beer for artistic studies. From his regular lunch spot, he gives free rein to his drawing studies and leaves the restaurant with several drawings. It is not only since the death of his wife that he relaxes here with his artistic observations. He not only depicts the surroundings he sees, but also the spontaneous thoughts of his emerging feelings and the current events of the day. Everything that moves him is captured. In this way, the drawings are also a reflection of his life. Through the different depictions, you can recognize his distant background. The 800 small drawings give an insight into a life that is still eventful today. These drawings train the eye and the imagination. They are spontaneous expressions that give a deeper insight into the artist's working methods.

Time: Fri 15-18.00, Sat 10-13.00 & 15-18.00, Sun 11.30-13.00 & 15-17.00
Cost: free
Location: Dahlem-Kronenburg, Der Kunststall, Burgstr. 10
Info-Tel.: 0176 89093696 & 02151. 798174
Email: K unststall@freent.de
www.derkunststall.de