Jan Zöller - Ritual Believer

Jan Zö ller’ s (b. Haslach, 1992; lives and works in Karlsruhe) paintings, sculptures, and installations probe the discrepancy between economic production and the spiritual and magical dimension of art. The artist’ s book Ritual Believer surveys the so-called charcoal paintings series, created between 2019 and 2023. For these works, the artist paints directly in charcoal on the unprimed canvas, making it impossible to correct “ blunders.” Another distinguishing feature is the virtual absence of color; the austerity of the compositions contrasts with Zö ller’ s other, often intensely colorful paintings. The motifs that are the hallmark of his oeuvre— birds, running legs— are complemented by writing and text. Another aspect of this shift is that the works’ titles play a central part and almost figure as a creative element in their own right. For the text in the book, the artist sent the titles of the works shown to his brother, who wove them into a story. An appendix presents scanned archival materials. Notebooks and zines Zö ller produced between 2015 and 2017 provide interesting insight into how he finds his motifs and his compositional process.

Alexander Booth is a poet and literary translator. His translation of Lutz Seiler's collection of poems IN FIELD LATIN was published last year by Seagull Books. His work has appeared in numerous international print and online journals. After many years in Rome, at present he lives in Berlin. Pilar Soler Montes, Researcher and Art Curator