The cry and silence of the world and the flaming voice of children - a sculptural lament in cyan, yellow and magenta by Frank Bittner

About "The cry and silence of the world and the flaming voice of children - a sculptural lament in cyan, yellow and magenta"

by Frank Bittner

About the artwork

In this expressive and at the same time harrowing work, three screaming children's faces are condensed into a single, overwhelming sculpture of colour and emotion. The physicality of the depiction makes the heads appear less painted than modelled - as if formed from a viscous, pasty substance that seems to vibrate on the borders between painting and sculpture.

From left to right, a colour spectrum unfolds that is both harmonious and confrontational: a head dipped in intense cyan, followed by a bright yellow centre and finally a magenta-coloured face that balances the picture towards the right. The background absorbs the respective colour tones, so that the boundaries between figure and space dissolve. Dense, relief-like layers of colour play around the children's heads, linking them together and creating a pulsating web of colour, form and emotion.

The wide-open mouths, glaringly protruding tongues and teeth as well as the narrowed eyes convey an unfiltered urgency - an eruptive mixture of pain, fear and impotent rage. This work compels us to confront it: it is not a quiet contemplation, but a confrontation with the elemental, unadorned energy of childish despair. In its blazing intensity of colour, the triptych becomes an indictment - against silence, against looking away, against the numbness of the world.

Created by Frank Bittner with support from AI.