Echoes

In a landscape shrouded in mist and haze, where the indefinite merges with the tangible, a quiet yet powerful vision unfolds. Three pyramids appear above gentle hills and wide plains – triangles that interpenetrate each other and make the landscape transparent at the points where they overlap. These apparitions are more than just geometric figures. They do not merely appear before the eye, but seem to immerse themselves in the organic world and connect with it. The image that unfolds is not static; it is a dialogue between the Platonic idea and the matter that surrounds it.

In this series of works, Bernd Weingart also suggests that the strict separation between the ‘heaven of ideas’ and the ‘earth of sensory perception’ is not valid. In his works, the Platonic solids do not appear as disembodied, purely abstract structures in the ‘heaven of ideas,’ but as elements that are permeated by the organic world. These solids, which in Platonic philosophy were conceived as the fundamental structure of reality, emerge from their purely conceptual sphere and appear in a new, tangible dimension. Weingart's pyramids are not merely geometric structures; they are living formations that redefine the boundary between abstraction and organic matter.

The colour palette of the images – soft pastel shades – reflects a melancholic, almost fragile mood in which the idea of matter as something orderly, consisting of Platonic solids, becomes tangible. In Weingart's works, this philosophical idea is not just a concept, but becomes visual reality. The pyramids appear as shimmering »Echoes« of the idea, permeating the forms of the landscape and giving it a deeper, metaphysical dimension. They are not only symbols of geometry, but also reminders of the ancient idea of a cosmic order of the world.

Beyond purely philosophical thinking, there is another dimension that manifests itself in the paintings. The pyramids that appear here are not only architectural forms, but also »Echoes« of an older cosmological meaning. In the tombs of the ancient Egyptian kings, the pyramids were not only the resting places of the deceased. They were understood as gateways to the afterlife, as bridges between the world of the living and the gods. They were the places where the connection to the actual, eternal reality was guaranteed. Such a concept »Echoes« in Weingart's images. The pyramids appear as living manifestations of a long-gone era, yet we encounter them in the present – as lasting reminders of the deeper, universal truth they represent.

In his landscapes, pyramids are not merely relics of the past, but living symbols of continuous communication between the material and spiritual worlds. On his walks, Weingart repeatedly experiences these »Echoes« from another dimension – from his personal as well as collective unconscious. For him, these figures are not just silent geographical markers – they are realities that have always existed in secret and are now becoming visible in the present.

In the »Echoes«, various figures of thought illuminate reality: the Platonic idea of an ideal, imperishable world, the organic life of nature, and the cosmological understanding of the ancient Egyptians, for whom the pyramids are places where communication between the worlds is guaranteed. The pyramids, which appear in their fleeting transparency, are apparitions of a spiritual reality that flows through organic nature in the images. They are »Echoes« from the timelessness of ideas.

- Max von Gleichen