Tilo Baumgärtel

Curated by guest curator Saša Bogojev, the exhibition presents an overview of paintings, drawings and video art by Leipzig contemporary realist Tilo Baumgärtel (1972). Das selbe Wasser - on view until 3 March 2024 - is part of the Drents Museum's series of exhibitions on artists from the (Neue) Leipziger Schule.

Rooms full of fragments
The starting point for Tilo Baumgärtel's work is always visible reality. He draws inspiration from his own true-life memories, but also from documentaries or books, for example. The artist brings these different sources of inspiration together. Baumgärtel himself calls his works 'rooms full of fragments'. Those 'rooms' are like a screenshot from a film he would like to see, never fully developing the story. His work shows the calm before the storm, a fairytale world in which colourful figures and alienating backgrounds take the visitor and challenge him to fill in the story himself. In Das selbe Wasser, the Drents Museum takes visitors to this fairy-tale world through paintings, drawings and video art.

Visual work and video art
Alumni and teachers of the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB) are often collectively referred to as the (Neue) Leipziger Schule. Their styles and techniques differ, but the artists are all inspired by reality. Tilo Baumgärtel studied at the HGB. He was taught by painter Arno Rink, among others, and shared a studio space with Neo Rauch. Initially Baumgärtel started training with an interest in photography and film, later switching to painting. Today, Baumgärtel continues to make video art alongside visual work.

Neue Leipziger Schule
The exhibition Tilo Baumgärtel – Das selbe Wasser is part of a series of solo exhibitions from the Neue Leipziger Schule (New Leipzig School). Rosa Loy, David Schnell, Matthias Weischer, Kristina Schuldt and Neo Rauch, among others, have preceded Baumgärtel. For its collection of contemporary figurative art, the Drents Museum - alongside Academy Minerva in Groningen - has been following the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig for years. 

The exhibition has been curated by guest curator Saša Bogojev. The Croatian curator has lived and worked in the Netherlands for several years and has contributed to many exhibitions on contemporary figurative painting worldwide.

Publication
The exhibition is accompanied by a publication of the same name, including a contribution by guest curator Saša Bogojev. The book is published by Waanders Uitgevers in Zwolle, costs €24.95 and is available in the Museumshop of the Drents Museum or via the Dutch Museum Giftshop website.