Leopold Strobl Austrian, b. 1960
Leopold Strobl’s intimately scaled drawings (many of his works measure approximately 4 1/2 × 4 inches) lead the viewer into landscapes of haunting beauty. In every work he presents a deliberately partial view, covering portions he does not wish to show. Reposing forms suggest hills or crests or prehistoric rocks; enervated trees and melancholy shrubs may fill the visible part of the picture plane; segments of quiet roads, castles, fortresses, clock towers, or precise schematic houses and constructions may partially appear, with windows peeking back at the viewer like multiple all-black eyes. Strobl’s worlds possess a meditative state, an intense quietude, or perhaps an extreme suspense.
Born in Mistelbach, Austria, Strobl has devoted himself exclusively to art for more than thirty-five years. Since 2004, he has been a guest at the Open Studio program at the Gugging House of Artists, where he draws in the morning and finishes a new piece every session.
Strobl renders his drawings on newspaper clippings he selects and adheres to clean drawing paper (since he avoids all media, his mother collects illustrations for him, from which he makes selections). The undergirding of published media furnishes his works with pictorial facets and meaning.
Playing with solid color and transparency, Strobl allows a portion of the printed image to appear while obscuring other parts. In some compositions, he heightens natural elements with a flush of color for visual texture or three-dimensionality in his abstractions. In other drawings, the newsprint becomes a palimpsest with a faint trace of words barely visible under the pigment. Strobl signs each work on the back. His signature is composed of his name, and a heart which contains a cross with rays. These symbols are significant to Strobl, who is religious.
“Leopold Strobl is very thankful for his gift, his talent; he is happy to be able to indulge his artistic urges and for the discussions that ensue,” says Galerie Gugging Director Nina Katschnig. “His works are presumed simple, yet on closer observation one discovers their complexity. They exude what is important to him: tranquility, intensity, and peace. And something inherently mystical, magical. There is something meditative and in looking at them, you can lose yourself and find yourself again. They manifest the deliberation of the creator and through the clean lines and shapes, convey to the observer a kind of orientation that is difficult to describe.”
Leopold Strobl is included in the current Venice Biennale (April 20 - November 24, 2024) as part of the exhibition “Foreigners Everywhere,” curated by Adriano Pedrosa at the 60th International Art Exhibition.
