For more than a century, the mask has held a special fascination for artists. Ensor and Picasso were among them, as were post-war painters. The mask reveals a face that is not a face. It conceals and reveals in the same gesture.
In his new paintings, Leon Löwentraut addresses this age-old question in his own way. The masks emerge from colour and movement, layer upon layer. Their features remain open and never quite dissolve. They do not depict an individual. Instead, they show the face as a surface: something we display, something we put on, and something that looks back at us.
In this exhibition, Löwentraut is showing three sculptural heads for the first time. With these, the motif steps into the space. In the paintings, the face lies flat on the surface. The heads give the face volume, weight, and a reverse side. You have to walk around them to see them fully.
Thus, paintings and sculptures enter into a silent dialogue. Mask stands against head and image against body. The visible face contrasts with what lies behind it. The exhibition does not resolve this tension. Instead, it invites us to engage with it.
"The Face Behind" marks a step in Löwentraut’s work, moving from the painted surface into the third dimension.
