Artist André Schulze
The Cloud One Frankfurt-Metropolitan
André, a painter and trained painting restorer from Dresden, knows how to breathe new life into historical masterpieces. But that’s not all: with a generous dose of irony, humour, and peppered with quotations, he brings icons of painting such as Caspar David Friedrich into the present day, creating visual worlds of rare depth that invite the viewer to discover what lies between the lines.
10 Questions for André Schulze
The Dresden-based painter André, a trained painting restorer, has learnt how to breathe new life into historical masterpieces. But that’s not all: with a generous dose of irony and humour, and spiced with quotations, he brings icons of painting such as Caspar David Friedrich into the present day, creating visual worlds of rare depth that invite the viewer to discover what lies between the lines.
How did it come about that your works are now on display here?
I was asked to give the existing paintings in the hotel a contemporary makeover.
Briefly describe your work and its central elements:
My art is about connecting the old with the new and with our present day. I want to breathe new life into old works of art and confront them with our modern era.
What inspired you?
Every artwork tells a different story and gave me the opportunity to respond to it individually. I have two approaches: altering the content (adding something) and altering the concept (pixelating, partially painting over).
What materials and techniques do you use?
Quite simply: oil paints on canvas.
What was unusual about this commission for The Cloud One? It was
particularly exciting to see that all the paintings were the same size – 90x60cm – yet only three different frames were used, and some motifs, such as the Mona Lisa, appeared multiple times. This allowed me to alter a motif in various ways and demonstrate my versatility.
Art in the hotel
To what extent does your work reflect the atmosphere of the hotel?
The aim was to use artworks specifically designed to complement the space and suit the location. For example, in the breakfast room I created three old portraits based on themes related to breakfast.
What was the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge was that we only had digital renderings of the rooms to work from. The hotel was actually undergoing renovation at the time the artworks were being created. This meant we couldn’t yet see on site what the rooms actually looked like.
What was going through your mind as you created the pieces?
When creating the artworks, I took a conceptual approach and based my work on the rooms and the situations. This allowed me to draw up a plan in advance of which motifs would be displayed in which locations. I was then able to produce the artworks based on this. When painting the pictures, it was important to me to incorporate the future space into the image and to tailor my composition and colours to it.
What does Frankfurt mean to you?
I really only got to know Frankfurt properly through this project. Frankfurt is a city of extreme contrasts; from the station district through the banking district to the Römerberg, worlds collide: rich and poor, beauty and decay lie close together here.
Do you have a favourite spot in the city?
Yes, first and foremost, definitely The Cloud One Hotel by the station – it’s like a quiet island in the middle of the hustle and bustle! In the city, I particularly like the numerous little cafés, such as PICKNICK in Weißadlergasse.