Light smoke floats in the room and blurs the background.

In 1815, a volcanic eruption darkened the atmosphere, the summer remained cool and created dark and special lighting moods, which can also be clearly seen in the motifs and subjects of Romantic art during this period.

Stella Capretto, Lena Friemel and Laura Schöning, Master of Fine Arts students at the Caspar David Friedrich Institute, have taken up this historical phenomenon and incorporated it into the artistic installation. The budding artists “drew” with volcanic ash on transparent acrylic discs and made a cloud of dust visible in the floating arrangement of the discs. The seemingly solid impression of space is interrupted, our orientation is cancelled and at the same time an aesthetic experience of the diffuse is created.

The exhibition entitled “Jahr ohne Sommer” is part of the comprehensive “SHADOWLANDS” project with various exhibitions and presentations in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern under the direction of art historian and curator Dr Gerhard Graulich.

Exhibition period: 17 April – 22 May 2024

As part of the anniversary year 2024, a variety of contemporary perspectives on Caspar David Friedrich and his work will be presented in the exhibitions in the CUBIC art cube.

Text & photos: M. Schramm