Christa Näher

The horse charges in panic, its teeth – those of a predator – are bared, pure horror in its eyes, oscillating between aggression and the naked fear of the unimaginable violence it has just experienced. Christa Näher’s (b. 1947) monumental painting is titled Krieg (War) and comprises two canvases of different widths. According to Näher, who was the first female professor at Frankfurt’s Städelschule from 1987 until 2014, she only paints when she has something to say. Her art can be described as an inner necessity, an urge. The horse was rendered on the canvas in one go, almost as if in a trance. Nevertheless, Näher’s work is extremely controlled, she is a master of her craft. Thus, even the traces, which look like runny paint at first glance, have been placed on the canvas with care. Näher refers to these traces as the “threads of memory”. Her art is characterised thus by the interplay of inner drive and perfect craftsmanship.