Gönül Sen-Menzel: Color Magic with Political Power

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Vingst. It was 20 years ago. With the support of the Catholic Education Center, an exemplary exhibition series was launched in the parish of St. Theodor: the “Signale aus Vingst” (Signals from Vingst).

Under this title, artists of the most varied visual approaches have since brought the spirit of contemporary art into the church space. Inevitably, the question arises of how the two work together – perhaps even belong together. Looking at the course of cultural history, it becomes clear that the Catholic Church and the development of Western art are inseparably linked.

The current exhibition by the artist Gönül Sen-Menzel at St. Theodor Church impressively demonstrates that this interrelationship has lost none of its inspiring potential to this day. The painter of Turkish origin, who has lived in Cologne since 1981, is also the one who opened the “Signale aus Vingst” in 1993.

As she did then, she now ignites a firework of colors with her new presentation: landscapes full of movement that glow powerfully in red, violet, yellow and green and stir the viewer’s emotions. The restlessness of the world and of the human soul can be felt in equal measure. Unbridled dynamism carries the splendor of color into the realm of passion and longing: far away, beyond the horizon, where the energetic center of the sun radiates its magic. And very close, into the opaque tumult of sensual sweeps of color in which the clear contours of a controlled perception of the world dissolve.

Looking at Gönül Sen-Menzel’s expressive painting, viewers are astonished to register a series of stirrings that usually lie hidden beneath the surface of our everyday consciousness: nameless desires that have to do with eruption and resistance, but also with flowing pleasure and harmony – they push our experience beyond a purely functional, matter-of-fact attitude to life. And they show us that vibrations far greater than human existence are at work in the world. Exactly at this point, the relationship between the artistic spirit and the sacred place comes into play again: even at the beginning of the 21st century, art strives toward the sacred and toward reconciliation with the inner conflicts of human existence – provided it arises from a sincere foundation.

“My screams are the screams of oppressed women in Turkey.”
Gönül Sen-Menzel

Gönül Sen-Menzel shows that elementary human experiences can be expressed artistically from a Muslim background just as they can from a Christian one. The prerequisite, the artist emphasizes, is complete freedom of creative expression – which, however, is denied to many Muslim women for religious and cultural reasons. “My screams are the screams of oppressed women in Turkey,” Sen-Menzel says of her pictures. And she adds: “My way of painting always has a political dimension as well.”

Besides the abstract landscapes and expressive turbulences of color exhibited at St. Theodor, figurative depictions of women in dance poses are among the artist’s favorite motifs. She knows that art is not only an element of emancipation but also the ideal medium for building bridges between cultures and religions. The “Signale aus Vingst” have been spreading this insight for twenty years now. With the exhibition series, St. Theodor Church presents itself as both a place of reflection and a forum for discussion. And Gönül Sen-Menzel’s art is well suited to unfolding both qualities.

St. Theodor Church, Burgstraße 42, open Sundays 12 noon–1 p.m., until June 23