At the beginning of his art, both historically and in terms of process, is color. No more, but also no less. Because the examination of color, its properties, its perception, its phenomenology, is a comprehensive undertaking. So comprehensive that Jürgen Umlauff devotes himself almost exclusively to these questions. His work also testifies to this industriousness and tirelessness, two symptomatic characteristics of the artist's personality.

Within the "Analog series", even a quick glance suggests to the viewer that they have grasped the content: pictures in yellow and blue. That is true, but by no means everything! In the artistic examination of color alone, or more precisely with two colors, there is enormous potential that the artist knows how to deal with. Jürgen Umlauff applies color to a picture carrier in a very traditional way, usually watercolor on linen. The color palette is reduced to just two tones, yellow and blue. Her minimalist play of colors dominates the picture surface, with individual color accents placed close together in alternating arrangements. What initially appears to be a random, flat all-over turns out, on closer inspection, to be a calculated structure, a composition that was precisely laid out in advance. The basis of this composition is the smallest color unit, which is exactly 1/64 of the size of the picture.

The use of watercolor paint allows the artist to play with the intensity of the color. The two colors are applied alternately in glazes of varying strengths, sometimes pale and transparent, sometimes intense and opaque. The demarcation of the individual color fields from one another is not exact, the edges are soft and flowing. This is intentional. Because this allows the color to develop a life of its own, to conquer its own sphere of effect, which cannot be precisely predicted. And that is what Jürgen Umlauff is all about. He offers the color an experimental space on the picture surface, without knowing what the final result will look like. As an artist, he takes on the role of the one who provides the ingredients, ensures optimal conditions, directs the direction, but gives free rein to the play of colors.

In the theory of colors, yellow and blue, along with red, are among the primary colors, i.e. the three basic colors from which all others can be mixed. In the selective, direct confrontation of blue and yellow, Jürgen Umlauff tries to explore the colors themselves, their respective limits, their sphere of influence, their literal effect. And he does this – over and over again. Again and again he traces the color, tries to fathom it. He literally works his way to the limit. And the numerous variations prove that he has not yet reached his goal. Every picture is different, every picture has a life of its own. This includes the completely white spaces in between. Completely devoid of color, these empty spaces offer the viewer's eye a resting space. If you focus your gaze on those spots, the brain creates so-called afterimages, which the human brain projects there. Afterimages are phantom images that are still perceived even when the original color stimulus has faded. The color stimuli of the receptors that were not active then appear on a white surface. This gives the image a faint reddish glow, even though the color red is not present. Another phenomenon within perception that is worth exploring.

Neben diesen Farbfeldmalereien, die innerhalb einer Werkgruppe meist in Reihe oder Serien gehängt sind, setzt Jürgen Umlauff weitere Rasterbilder. Im starken Kontrast zu den farbigen Oberflächen bestehen diese lediglich aus einem feinen schwarzen Raster auf weißem Grund. Auch handelt es sich nicht um Malerei, sondern um Computergrafik.

By changing genres, Jürgen Umlauff transfers his fundamental questions about the quality of color and its perception to another level. It is precisely the contrast that provides a meaningful complement. On the one hand, painting, on the other, computer graphics, here analogue processes, there digital processing, movement versus rigidity, independent life versus calculated construction. As different as the two types of pictures may initially appear, they deal with one and the same topic. Here, too, it is about the abstraction of color, about structure, and about the change in our visual perception. By questioning our visual habits and working on their foundations, Jürgen Umlauff is, so to speak, dealing with the chemistry of our lives.

It is therefore only logical that Jürgen Umlauff also devotes himself to the medium of film. This genre reflects our changing viewing habits particularly well. Everything is becoming faster and more informative, with more and more data that needs to be seen, stored and processed. In addition to this flood of purely factual information, there are also sensual and emotional impressions that need to be processed. Above all, the boundaries between reality and fiction, image and depiction, become blurred in film.

A wonderful example of this is the video "4 min. in Plato's Cave". The title refers to the well-known parable about prisoners in a cave who only know their surroundings as shadows on the wall. In short, the parable questions the truth of what we see or think we see. Jürgen Umlauff's cave is in Cologne, whose city views are distorted and shown in black and white. Interestingly, Plato plays with the idea that the prisoners' chains could also be mental in nature. They could free themselves by force of will if they wanted to. With this idea in mind, you come to the conclusion that you must first question everything you see in order to then think about what else might be beyond the cave wall.

The interplay or fusion between the illusory world and reality, between image and depiction, between the analogue and digital worlds is shown in Jürgen Umlauff's "Graphics Card Watercolors". A graphics card transforms digital data in the computer so that it is reproduced as an image and can be read by the viewer. The watercolors depict such a graphics card in a very abstract form. In this series, which is one of his most recent groups of works, Jürgen Umlauff plays with the different levels of the image statement in an almost humorous way: A graphics card, i.e. a medium that stores image data in encrypted form, is reproduced as an image, also distorted. The viewer can now form his own picture, so to speak - each for himself, with no third party access. But this access is precisely what the video "Hacker" that accompanies the images is about. The title triggers a wealth of associations. Of people who illegally gain access to secret and encrypted data. It is an intrusion into hidden areas, an advance into the unfathomable depths of the digital world.

Jürgen Umlauff does nothing else. He hacks into the depths of our perception, tries to crack the code, to reveal the secrets, investigatively and persistently – as a painter and filmmaker. He prepares a school of seeing for those who get involved.