A Word About a Master of Versatility
When you see a minor stroke of a brush turning into a monk sitting down for meditation, a plant growing in the desert, or a dugout carrying a lonely rower, you must be witnessing one of Roman Scheidl’s performances. Accompanied by an actor, a dancer, or a flute-player, and seemingly without the slightest effort, the painter lets his drawings merge with one another on the overhead projector. It is the painter’s very ease that captivates the viewers, and it leaves them spellbound to become witnesses to the creation of filigree material, a touch of illusion that vanishes in thin air when the lights go on. Indeed, Roman Scheidl seems to love to squander. Why else would a painter of his calibre create his works of art just for the moment of viewing them, as if he was painting in the sand? With such a baffling act of modesty, viewers are grateful to note that the painter does produce durable works such as oil on canvas or, time and again, a brush drawing jotted down on paper. It is the seemingly unlimited versatility of painter Roman Scheidl’s brush stroke that fills viewers with joy. It shows them that the world is more than a put-up job with profiteers taking it all in a game with dubious rules. It shows them that there are no limits to creativity, and this absence of limits gives them a shiver of happiness. Yes, there is such a thing as a far-away horizon we want to set out to.
Text: Wolfgang Hermann
Foto: Lisi Specht