The Nation, Friday August 9,2002
by Ken Ywin

Joachim Haupt’s unique works are seldom seen in the international art world, which is precisely why art lovers should head for the Silom Galleria, where 90 paintings are on display until August 18.

Born in Berlin and currently residing in Laguna Beach, California, Haupt is well known throughout the world for the modern abstract mixed media technique he developed.

He is a self-taught artist who originally worked with water-colors, but having learned the secrets of lacquer while in Japan, the artist saw its potential. Although time-consuming because of the meticulous dedication required, the results are truly unique.

Perhaps because he is self-taught, Haupt is able to bring a freedom and innovation to an ancient method practiced by Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese artists with bold, expressive and quick-fire brushstrokes.

Called lacquer Foil Art”, the medium also incorporates pulverized granite, gold and silver leaf, acrylic paint, wood, silk, abalone shells, eggshells and mother-of-pearl to bring the painting “to life with the magic shine” as the affable gentleman likes to put it.

Indeed his “living” paintings change as the viewer or the source of light moves. The reflections, shimmers and plays of light created by these impressive artworks cannot be shown in photos or duplicated. Hence the magic. In Europe, his style has been termed the “Lacquer Foil Art Method” and although there is a strong Asian flavor, it exudes a distinct look all its own.

Haupt’s vividly coloured and luminous paintings are noticeable for their unusually smooth and glossy surfaces Working with different styles and genres for more than years has resulted in an interesting diversity. Yet, despite the eclecticism of both subject matter and genre, Haupt remains recognizably consistent within the unique mixed media process he helped to pioneer.

Long sojourners in Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia gave him a chance to observe the elegant lacquer-ware of the Orient and adopt many ancient and new techniques into his own style. Each of his works is an original, and each comes with a certificate of authenticity of “Haupt’s Lacquer Foil Art”. There are no reproductions.

Haupt begins each painting by tightly covering a laminated plywood board with raw silk and giving it many coats of strained, natural lacquer – the purest and finest available.

Then foils are glued meticulously to the hardened surface that give the work its luminosity and lustre through accents and linear patterns. Using acrylic paints, he develops his images directly and intuitively onto the slick surface: covering some of the foils or painting neatly around them.

One layer shows through another, and over the final composition, two more layers of transparent Japanese lacquer are applied, giving the painting a reverberating “life” and endurance – impervious to most normal wear and tear. As a result, its strength and toughness become an essential part of the visual experience.

Haupt’s images belie the labour-intensity required to prepare the surface of the canvas. Wearing paper masks, Haupt a his assistants spread coats of hone-thick lacquer on an acrylic-coloured wood panel, running warm water on the panel each time to speed the drying process. When lacquer is dry four days later, the panels are polished.”

It takes a month to paint two to three pieces if they are of the same series,” says Haupt. The “Faces” series reflects a very German expressionism – violent gestures, smears, outlining in black bold and contrasting colours of reds and greens. “Erotical Movements” mirrors Japanese “Floating World” bordello scenes and Moulin Rouge splashes in seductive soft tones; semi-abstract figures melt and become softened as paint spreads out and drips on the surface visually shifting the focus from the erotic to the reflective colour and line.

He changes to a more primitive manner in his “Parental Discretion Advised” – again in the vein of German expressionism but more precise, more childlike, flat, clearly drawn and very detailed.The images in “Movement into the New Millennium” are largely abstract and ebullient. Sensuality is expressed through dance movement, and Haupt uses abalone inlays to define muscle tone and infuses red to create an enigmatic energy.

Traces of Bauhaus painter Wassily Kandinsky also emerge from the subconscious and appear mysteriously in Haupt’s abstractions, as in “Movement into the New Millennium” with its whirling gyre of colour, spinning out of fragments of line.

Haupt made a donation of “Ground Zero”, which is a tribute to those who died on September 11.
The work is a haunting depiction of the two towers, the city, the sense of light and the unimaginable devastation that was caused. Money from its sale went to the Firefighters Fund of New York.

His paintings are now hanging at the Bank of America in Laguna Beach. One became a United Nations gift to the Saad Abad Presidential Palace, which Iranian President Mohammed Khatami accepted to initiate the “Dialogue Between Civilizations” in 2001.Haupt’s permanent public collections hang at the Sheraton Ball Harbour in Los Angeles, and the Oriental Bank Berhad headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.His works can also be seen on his own website, Gallery – www.hauptart.com.

But in truth, the only way to really appreciate their intense beauty is to experience the magic in person. It will be worth your while.