Bewegte Stille im Stiegenaufgang
“Silent Motion in the Stairway” – oil paintings by Stefan Osterider at the “Grazer Minoritenzentrum”
Before the beginning of concerts, the stairway in front of the auditorium at the Minorites’ centre of culture is noisy, hectic and full of movement. When people have left, silence falls and the place is transformed into a meditative baroque hall. In tune with its atmosphere and matching the architecture of the staircase, the Graz-born artist Stefan Osterider has very sensitively composed his most recent oil paintings.
These inter-related works draw three-dimensional lines through the room, forming contrapuntal axes whose effect is most impressive when the chandelier is switched off. In these paintings there is a strangely unresolved tension between the background and the foreground; depth is created by translucent colour surfaces. The English titles which of course sound foreign to a German-speaking public are meant to both direct and captivate the beholder through their unfamiliar sound. Here, a strategy which is nothing but annoying in advertising works out perfectly well.
The fact that the painter has taken his time, has added layer upon layer and let things grow makes the beholder experience what may be best described as ‘silence full of motion.’
Michael Eisner, Kronen Zeitung, Minoriten Galerie, Graz, 2004