Frankfurters Reference Image

Frankfurters is a photographic collage, made of 24 elements, each 59 x 42 cm in size. Every one of them depicts human silhouettes, cut out of the context of an urban landscape, either walking or stopping by – couples, elderly people, mothers with children, etc. Maintained in shades of grey, the silhouettes were inscribed to rhombus forms coming from light, diagonal strips representing fragments of pavements, visible to a greater or lesser degree. In one such form, in the central part of his piece, the artist also put a reversed sign “Bayrle 1980–2007”. Including one's signature in the cycle, as well as the information concerning the time span of the creation process, is not void of meaning for Bayrle's simulation of the social portrayal. By creating a manipulative image of city dwellers pacing in intersecting directions who, nonetheless, never meet each other in the common space, Bayrle triggers associations with the regime-economic-related changes in Europe. [E. Jarosz]

Frankfurters is a photographic collage, made of 24 elements, each 59 x 42 cm in size. Every one of them depicts human silhouettes, cut out of the context of an urban landscape, either walking or stopping by – couples, elderly people, mothers with children, etc. Maintained in shades of grey, the silhouettes were inscribed to rhombus forms coming from light, diagonal strips representing fragments of pavements, visible to a greater or lesser degree. In one such form, in the central part of his piece, the artist also put a reversed sign “Bayrle 1980–2007”. Including one's signature in the cycle, as well as the information concerning the time span of the creation process, is not void of meaning for Bayrle's simulation of the social portrayal. By creating a manipulative image of city dwellers pacing in intersecting directions who, nonetheless, never meet each other in the common space, Bayrle triggers associations with the regime-economic-related changes in Europe. Being “crammed” into the optical pattern, developed by the artist, of contemporary capitalist society, the people expose their own anonymity. Each photo-collage, as a part of the whole, is produced by following an analogous rule. The density of human silhouettes that fill up the composition changes. In this way, the artist generates a dynamic set, creating an illusion of kaleidoscopic motion, conceptually framing the regularities of the expanding social tissue.
The photo-collage captures the typical features and techniques of the artist's work. What is characteristic is that he develops structures based on multiplying motifs, which maintain visual independence, and have a hallucinatory impact on perception. The tautological rule governing this art finds its motivation in the course of the artist's education, which began with learning to weave in a textile factory. Next, from an interest in printmaking, his fascination evolved in the direction of images produced with computers. However, the artist does not limit the application of modern technologies of image reproduction only to means of enhancing the visual attractiveness. Paradoxically, they are used to create engaged art, in which social issues constantly reoccur, such as: overproduction, overconsumption, excessive exploitation, environmental pollution or commercialism. In Bayrle's case, investigating various aspects of capitalism stems from the critical awareness of modern, utopian projects of social organization in socialism. On the other hand, his fascination with machines and mass production refers to constructivist productions.
Bayrle is one of the key contemporary German artists, his works in CoCA's collection significantly fill in the gap at the international level of contemporary art. [E. Jarosz]