In 2015 Dieter Mammel witnessed the arrival of the first Syrian refugees on the island of Kos.
In the years that followed the Berlin-based painter explored the story of his own family's
flight the sense of displacement that came with it and the new beginning in another country.
The exhibition tour LIFELINE which traces the course of the family's life with the
accompanying catalog shows the pictures created as part of this exploration and examines the
themes of origin flight and memory as timeless constants of human experience. Mammel paints
with watercolor on unprimed wet canvas. The focus is always on just one color on light and
shadow. It almost seems as if the motifs are dissolving-and with them time and memory. Mammel
tries to capture them with his brush. His pictures bear witness to the difficulty of this
endeavor but also to the necessity and beauty of the attempt in and of itself.
