This book features paintings by Hermann Lederle shown at Arthea Gallery, Mannheim, Germany in September 2015.

Hermann Lederle’s “Adaptation,” 2015, is massive. Measuring five and a half feet by ten feet, this totemic monument doesn’t just envelop you, it anchors you to the ground. Reminiscent of partially open Levelor blinds, a network of dense and narrow vertical bands sweep across the canvas. There’s more weight at the center; this makes the surface quiver and shimmer, like water burbling over an outcropping of coral just beneath the surface of a roiling sea. Without fully revealing it, the piece suggests an expanse of pictorial depth. It accommodates something that is turbulent and veiled, expressionistic and controlled. This balance suggests a mystery, a conundrum, a koan.