Gosbert Gottmann comes from the Black Forest, where light is a sign of something arriving or changing, hope and warmth. Those luminous formations move quickly in the hilly, wooded landscape, triggering uncertainty and self-consciousness. Ancient parades and religions run deep through the valleys, as well as manufacturing plants and theme parks.

Gottmann’s new book étoile is not about the forest, but the place where the artist began to first understand the fleeting nature of light, where the extremes of sunsets affected his heart. étoile is of a galactic nature; a conflation of primordial images speaking to each other. It could be viewed as a return to Gottmann’s roots, but it is actually much more: as if the artist were scanning the familiar through alien eyes. The selection pulls from the past and pushes into the new. It is about placing former narratives within alternative perspectives. It represents a biography of observations: wandering among city streets, in nature, through exhibitions, or on commuter trains … closeness and distance. Shade and radiance. A magic realism born of solitude and dreams.