“I think the hope is that, by working on the image, one is not only talking about the image itself or about art, but also about things and relationships.” In recent years, Guido Nussbaum’s paintings have been thematically reduced to the globe, and formally to round works called tondi, created with oil paint. For the artist, this is less a “picture of the world” than a model. As he has explained, the globe is not a neutral image but “an instrument”, historically associated with “navigation and imperialism, the recording of ownership, and discoveries made from Europe.”

This motif appeared back in 1988, with his interactive video installation Heim-Welt, in which images from five video cameras pointed at a globe are displayed live in the same room on five monitors. “I do want to talk about something, without wanting to frighten anyone in the strict sense. But of course it is still the major problems and wars that are addressed through the globe”, explains the artist, who now pursues a painting practice in which colours bring the world to life through a mastery of touch, forms, and hues.

Guido Nussbaum generally stays away from digital tools when creating his images. For the creation of his globes, he first paints the forms on real spheres, which he then photographs from various angles, using these shots as models. The land and water surfaces are often differentiated by playing with colour balance, and shadows help create the illusion of three-dimensionality despite the flatness of the surface.