Joachim Bandau is an internationally celebrated sculptor and painter. Working with minimalist shapes and a restrained colour palette, Bandau applies his materials in unexpected and non-traditional ways. His precisely controlled and multi-layered watercolours take months, sometimes years, to complete as each layer must be carefully applied across a dry surface. Each of the resulting paintings contains its own movement and rhythm that depends on the direction and depth of the layering process. Music, specifically classical, is one of Bandau’s primary influences for his black and white watercolour series.
Born in Koln, Germany in 1936, Joachim Bandau currently lives and works between Achen, Germany and Staefa, Switzerland. His work has been exhibited internationally including at Neues Museum, Nürenburg (2017); Kunsthalle, Basel (2017); Sammlung Kunst aus Nordrhein-Westfalen, Aachen (2008); the Drawing Centre in New York (2002); Kunst aus Nordrhein-Westfalen Berliner Kunstverein (1989) and Documenta 6 (1977). Museum collections include Le Centre Pompidou, Paris; De Young Museum, San Francisco; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen; Museum van Heedendagse Kunst, Antwerp and the Kunstmuseum Basel.