Herbert Brandl

It was in 2009 when Herbert Brandl (born in Graz in 1959) for the first time chose the monotype technique for realizing a comprehensive series of works dedicated to the subject of mountains and landscapes. More than 300 works were printed in the lithograph studio Chavanne Pechmann until the summer of 2010. A compelling selection of these fascinating series and single sheets is now presented for the first time at the Albertina, revealing the uncompromising character of Brandl’s both intuitive and processual analytic method of work.

For Herbert Brandl, the monotype method has proved an ideal technique for making his artistic intentions come true. He can develop a series from unique sheets instead of producing an edition of prints and yet integrate the printing process into his work. Brandl’s monotypes result from impulsive strokes and bundles of strokes. Paint is applied and wiped off, the delicate constructs materializing on the sheet within the short moment between their emergence and disappearance. 

Since 2000, the artist’s love of and respect for the mountains has repeatedly found its expression besides the motifs suggesting landscapes. Brandl relies on different techniques and formats for exploring his monumental motifs and always transforms his subjects into spaces of color and masses of form. The artist shows himself concerned with his works’ oscillation between the opposites of form and content.