The Qube Gallery at The Henry Hotel was the setting of the "Trust Me I'm Crazy Exhibit" several weeks ago with digital artist Thomas Von Klettenberg feeling in cloud nine as he welcomed art enthusiasts, guests from the media and friends. While guests were perusing, cocktails like German dishes Sauerkraut, German meatballs, croquettes, potato fries and germuse rolls were provided by Michael's Deli Café; refreshments were served by San Miguel Brewery and D+B Wines.
Memories are like fingerprints on the soul. Digital pop artist and co-founder of the Kunstschalter Art Group in Berlin along with Ulrich Richborn in the year 1986, Thomas Von Klettenberg collects these "fingerprints" and weaves them into his own impressions of the world around him. He started his dalliance with digital art when the iPad first came out in 2010, and was inspired by another artist's exhibit in bringing his digital art out of the device and into galleries.
"Trust Me I'm Crazy," Von Klettenberg's first exhibit in Asia, opened on July 17 at the Qube Gallery. His artworks that seem to have explored all facets of the color spectrum were on full display that day and took the viewers on a trippy ride that thankfully had no consequences except joy and wonder. Though created on a digital medium, his landscape artworks are detailed and scenic, giving the viewers an almost transcendent experience.
The process of creating his work involves more than one medium. Von Klettenberg first creates his pieces on an iPad or IPhone, transfer them to several photo programs, then has them printed directly onto acryl-glass and covered with an alu-dibond plate at the back. Each artwork is printed only once making it one of a kind.
Known also as Thomas Hackenberg, he is a television presenter, comedian and actor in Germany, Thomas Von Klettenberg is his alter-ego. The exhibit is a travelling one. According to Von Klettenberg, "the idea is to bring these works back to the place where they were born." As to why he chose Cebu, he says, "I grew up in Mexico with all its colors and joy of life and a lot of it reminds me of Cebu. When I'm here in Cebu, I feel like I'm traveling back to my childhood, and I love that feeling - the feeling of being at home".