Waterlilies
2. December 2023
exhibited in the group exhibition: Contrasts with art goes public at the Fabrik der Künste in Hamburg
from December 1-3, 2023
I like to capture fleeting moments in short videos and photos. They show the painting process outdoors or serve as inspiration for my pictures.
exhibited in the group exhibition: Contrasts with art goes public at the Fabrik der Künste in Hamburg
from December 1-3, 2023
Excerpts from the opening speech by Povl Leckband 3/11/2023
… But Ute Meyer has made her choice. No beach houses and no Europe-Nostra idyll. A single farm store and a church were left out. But otherwise it’s nature – and as dramatic nature as possible. She says herself that she decided against the typical Ærø motifs such as beach houses and fairytale street scenes. She wanted to be outdoors and paints outdoors. She is particularly interested in the cliffs and the rocky, rough and lonely beach in front of the vast Baltic Sea. But not when the sea is foaming wildly, when the clouds are dark or when it is stormy and raining. When sky and sea and rock and cliff merge into one.
No, Ute Meyer is out and about in fine weather and her pictures show Ærø from its most beautiful side.
And she is good at it. Many of her pictures from the charming coastal regions convey a good impression of the majesty of nature and the power of the sea and its constant assault on the cliffs. And to give us a little hope that not everything is a prey to the sea and that there is still hope, the cliffs are crowned with colorful flowers, poppies or rose hips. However, it has also included some bays on the north side. Borgnæs, for example. But it seems that the low-key charm of the east coast that characterizes these places is not quite her thing. I don’t quite feel the calm and coziness that I think I’ve experienced on my own visits to these places. The spectacular is her forte – and this is underlined by her bold, almost lavish painting style. The paint is applied in bold strokes, giving the eye something to see both close up and from a distance. One of the paintings that best demonstrates Ute Meyer’s skill and for me a very characteristic motif, also in terms of painting style, is No. 9 Mølledamsvej or No. 30 Vitsø – and here I also conclude and welcome Ute Meyer here in the Flensburg library, perhaps as the founder of a future artists’ colony on Ærø. …
Uddrag fra åbningstalen af Povl Leckband 3/11/2023
…”Men Ute Meyer har truffet sit valg. Ingen strandhuse og ingen Europa-Nostra idyl. En enkelt landhandel og en kirke er smuttet med. Men ellers er det: Natur natur – og helst den dramatiske. Hun siger selv, at hun har fravalgt de typiske Ærø-motiver som strandhusene og de eventyragtige gadebilleder. Hun ville være ude i det fri og maler ude i det fri. For en stor del går hendes interesse i retning mod de stejle klinter og den stenede, barske og afvisende strand foran den vidtstrakte Østersø. Men ikke når havet skummer vildt, når skyerne er mørke eller når det stormer og regner. Når himmel og hav og sten og klint går i et.
Nej, Ute Meyer er ude i godt vejr og hendes malerier viser Ærø, når øen er smukkest.
Og det er hun til gengæld god til. Mange af hendes malerier fra de spændende kystområder giver en fin fornemmelse for naturens storhed og for havets magt og konstante angreb mod klinten. Og for at give os lidt tro på, at ikke alt er havets rov, og at der er håb forude krones klinten med farveprægtige blomster, valmuer eller hybenroser. Et par vige på nordsiden har hun dog taget med. Borgnæs for eksempel. Men det er som om den mere tilbageholdene østkyst-charme, der præger disse steder ikke helt er hendes bord. Jeg fornemmer ikke helt den stilhed og hygge, som jeg synes, at jeg disse steder har oplevet ved eget besøg. Det mere spektakulære er hendes force – og det understreges også af hendes kraftige, næsten ødsle malestil. Farven påføres i fede strøg, så der er noget for øjet – både nærved og på lidt afstand. Et af de billeder, som bedst viser Ute Meyers kunnen og for mig et meget karakteristisk motiv, også hvad malestilen angår, er nr. 9 Mølledamsvej eller nr. 30 Vitsø – og her slutter jeg også og byder velkommen til Ute Meyer her på Flensborg Bibliotek, måske som stifinder for en kommende kunstnerkoloni på Ærø. …”
