Asta von Unger

Asta von Unger  –  Energy 3

Asta von Unger (*1970, Frankfurt on Main) lives and works in Munich. From 1990 to 1999, she studied German and Italian Philology and Philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and at the University of Bologna with Umberto Eco.

After her degree she taught at the Goethe Institute and 2000-2003 in Bologna.

In 2004 she returned to Germany to study for one year at the Free Academy in Berlin and subsequently at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (2006-2010). In her final year she was master student of Prof. Günther Förg and received her degree in 2010.

Asta’s first year as a professional free-lance artist was extremely formative because she set up a framework of ideas which have since remained valid for her. She began by asking herself what the guiding principles in her life and her artistic thinking were.

The result was a catalogue of 12 personal qualities. The first one was ‘as simple as possible’, followed by liberty, determination, energy, enigma, fragility, clarity, clearness, taking risks, attraction, masculine versus feminine, and finally joy/humour. These qualities set the agenda for the following year. Every single month was dedicated to one of these ‘values’.

Asta endeavoured to investigate the whole range of visual expression of the given theme and she would also apply all sorts of materials: from canvas to aluminium, from oil paint to charcoal and from abstract to semi-figurative.

At the end of each month, Asta stored away all completed works, cleaned the studio and focused on the next quality. In those 12 months, she turned her studio into a laboratory in which the foundation of her body of work was laid out.

Artvantgarde has selected for you a small number of works from the series “energy 3” which was created in 2020. They are enamel paintings on aluminium.

The swirling loops of the brush capture the notion of energy in the simplest way. A moment of utter concentration was required before the full force of the energy was released in one go. The work is almost the result of a symbolic act, namely to direct the attention at a desired goal and go for it. That involves passion – and passion is a form of energy. The “Energy”-Series is very much a reflection on the concept of self-determination and the fundamental quality of energy. There is a wonderful quote by William Frederick Book “a man must drive his energy, not be driven by it”…that applies to women, too!!!

For Asta, energy is of prime importance because it is the source of everything. It is the driving force of life and life in return means change and growth – in short: transformation. This very notion is a crucial element of the DNA of Asta’s body of work: Nothing is fixed or static. Asta rather approaches art with a great sense of spontaneity and openness so that her works breathe an air of movement and flow. As a matter of fact, one of the definitions of energy is the ability to move. For Asta the ability to move is directly connected with the desire for discoveries. She sees life as a journey from one experience to the next. On that journey we traverse unknown territories and foreign places. To stir her curiosity and keep up a playful joy for unfolding the surprising and the unpredictable is vital for her and her artistic thinking. That is why she is continually experimenting. Naturally, the outcome is uncertain: A work might turn out to be perfect; another work may fail to convince. Yet, failure is necessary because we learn from it. To avoid risks and failure means that we are not engaging in life. It is our energy which pushes our ideas and actions so that we are our own authority and develop our very own personality and individuality. Mark Twain put it perfectly: “And what is a man without energy? Nothing – nothing at all.”