Female musicians: Saxophone, 2015
musicians: Guitar, 2015
musicians: Bass guitar, 2015
each acrylic on canvas, 50 x 150
The academy displays four colourful pictures from the musician series of the artist Gerda Laufenberg, of which one is shown on this website. Without music, the cultural work of the academy would be unthinkable. With various paintings and sculptures, the academy pays tribute to music not only acoustically but also visually: music seems to resound from the wall, even when there is no concert taking place. Presence without presence has prompted Laufenberg to paint her small series, as she tells us in a short interview about her paintings on November 5, 2019:
"What can I tell you about this "musicians" series? I almost always write lyrics to my works, but I don't have any lyrics to these. I didn't even give the pictures a 'real' title, because it's superfluous to give a picture with two saxophonists the not surprising title " Two Saxophonists". In any case, these pictures have accompanied me in my studio for two or three years. They were created for a concert that was played in my studio: Four men making music on stage. The singer had cancelled. I nurtured the line-up with freshly painted female musicians and placed the pictures behind the band, so that it looked as if they were playing along." 

Laufenberg already painted as a child and went through various artistic phases: "In my youth I created gloomy pictures, warning the world of the impending abyss. Then my palette became brighter. Then I took abstract paths. Then I found my way back to realism, illustrated for publishers, companies and associations, painted calendars. In the past I simply started with a piece of chalk - today, in the middle of my work, I am overcome by doubts. Why do I still paint? If you ever ask me that, I'll ask back: Why do you breathe?"

Art as an elixir of life. She has also subordinated her refreshing curriculum vitae, which incidentally begins in the 13^th century, to art. It connects artistic trends of the past with her work today and reflects her unconventional and humorous attitude to life. Because: "Curricula vitae with extensive details about childhood, school visits and the course of studies including references to the assistant professors bore me. At some point you reach an age where it just gets ridiculous. I would therefore like to present my vita to you in a different way - the way I paint ..."

She concludes her eventful artistic life as follows (future developments not yet taken into account): "Since 1978, I have had my own studio in Cologne - after careless studies - and work there in memory of eventful times, sometimes early Gothic, sometimes opulent Baroque, sometimes expressively evil. Never again romantic. There are no more nightingales. I have shown my art in Belgium, Germany, Spain and Holland, have written and illustrated books. I love my job and maybe later I will paint a nightingale again. But rather a duck fleeing from his plate."