Bedingungen
The Sensuousness of Colour "Conditions"
Stefan Osterider´s most recent abstract works are the result of ten years? intense plumbing into the depths of painting. As an antithesis to the strongly theoretical and intellectual approach of the 29-year-old artist from Graz, his colours have a remarkably sensuous quality and inner force of their own. At first glance, it also appears to dominate a small-format series of paintings and particularly a more monumental "black" work of art. This impression may only be revised through a more intense study of the complex layering of colours which are very subtly imbedded in a well-planned composition. In addition to this, Stefan Osterider deliberately creates tension by means of horizontal and vertical elements, which may generally be regarded as one of the main characteristics of his paintings.
A series of slides which accompany his paintings may be used as a kind of guide to his pictures: People who have played an important role in Stefan Osterider´s (artistic) life are juxtaposed with very atmospheric close-ups of colour pigments.
Katharina Hofmann-Sewera, Kleine Zeitung, Graz, 1997