Crazy He Says He Is

CEBU, Philippines -  An exhibition of works made using a variegated set of non-traditional mediums is currently on display in Qube Gallery at the Henry Hotel in Banilad, highlighting the aesthetic inclinations and creative tenacities of digital pop artist Thomas Von Klettenberg.

Titled "Trust Me - I'm Crazy," the show's presented pieces puts the spotlight on Klettenberg's progressive sense of balance in the creation of art - primarily focusing on how he seamlessly merges his thematic concepts with the creative potentials inherent in smart devices and advanced printing processes.

Basically, each of the show's presented pieces were made using a smartphone or a tablet, from where the artist's distinct utilization of space and penchant for vibrant color palettes steered him in the making of contemporary abstractionist compositions.

As the final touch of his creative process, Klettenberg had his compositions printed onto acryl-glass sheets which were then covered with an alu-dibond plate at the back; making each composition distinctly the only one of its kind.

Going beyond the conventional methods and techniques involved in painting, Klettenberg's expressionist and representational views are defined in how he uses strands of color in molding beauty as he perceives it to be - maintaining a sense of rock solid lucidity even amidst a pandemonium of visual design elements that are well on their way towards the bounds of sanity.

This value of the show's presented pieces - all in all - gives a profound paradoxical twist to the implications that are implied by its title.

Also known as Thomas Hackenberg, Klettenberg is a television presenter, actor and comedian in Germany - where "Thomas Von Kletternberg" is his artistic alter-ego.

Co-founder of the Kunstschalter Art Group in Berlin in 1986, the digital pop artist grew up in Mexico, and shares that his experience here in Cebu brings back memories of home, from where the concept of the exhibit - that is, "to bring these works back to the place where they were born" as the artist puts it - bears a complementary value.