André Werner | overpaintings

Overpaintings | the painted photographs by André Werner

The photo overpaintings of André Werner are a remarkable series of artworks that explore the relationship between painting and photography, between original and reproduction, between identity and representation. These artworks are not just paintings over photos, but a complex and creative process of questioning, deconstructing and transforming the original images.
André Werner is a renowned artist who challenges and transforms the images that surround us, especially the ones that depict human beings. He uses photocopies, video stills, and magazine pages as the starting point for his overpaintings, which are more than just a layer of paint on top of a photo. They are a way of questioning and deconstructing the medial multiplication of the human image, as well as a way of reviving and respecting the individuality and dignity of the people pictured.
André Werner’s overpaintings mark the transition in his work from a purely painterly artistic work to an artistic confrontation with the media image. Often compared with Arnulf Rainer, the works of André Werner are rather a further development that goes beyond a purely impulsive, informal examination of the original image. By keeping the overpainted photo visible as the starting point, he allows the viewer to follow the process of image making and to engage in a dialogue with the image and its creator.
These overpaintings are not only painterly commentaries, but emphasize the astonishing power of resistance of the pictures, their survivability. Making this power inherent in the image tangible becomes a central concern in his works.

Chachou Songe-Creux