Dieter Mammel

In 2015, Dieter Mammel witnessed the arrival of the first Syrian refugees on the Greek island of Kos. In the years that followed, the Berlin-based painter explored the story of his own family’s flight, the sense of displacement that came with it, and the new beginning in another country. The exhibition tour LIFELINE, which traces the course of the family’s life, with the accompanying catalogue shows the pictures created as part of this exploration and examines the themes of origin, flight, and memory as timeless constants of human experience. Mammel paints with watercolor on unprimed, wet canvas. The focus is always on just one color, on light and shadow. It almost seems as if the motifs were dissolving—and with them time and memory. Mammel tries to capture them with his brush. His pictures bear witness to the difficulty of this endeavor, but also to the necessity and beauty of the attempt in and of itself.