Alexander Camaro

Alexander Camaro (actual name Alphons Bernhard Kamarofski: 27 September 1901 – 20 October 1992) was a German artist (painter) and dancer.

Life Alphons Bernhard Kamarofski was born and grew up in Breslau (as Wrocław was known before) 1945). His education included violin lessons and training as an acrobat. Later he attended the City Conservatory ("Städtisches konservatorium") in Breslau.

Although, given the choice, Camaro later supported himself and expressed himself artistically primarily though his painting, during the twelve Nazi years, the authorities decided his work was "degenerate" and exhibition of his paintings was banned. He survived chiefly through dance. The National Socialists were able to take power in January 1933 and lost no time in transforming Germany into a one-party dictatorship Many things changed, but Camaro was neither Jewish nor a political activist, and was able to pursue a stage career. Liselore Bergmann became his regular dance partner and together they danced in a number venues across Germany, notably at the Residenztheater in Gotha. In 1939, as war broke out nearby, Camaro was dismissed from a position as ballet-master at Allenstein. A year later he accepted a professorship in painting at the Berlin University of the Arts. After that Alexander Camaro worked alternately on Sylt and in Berlin.

Work Camaro was a relatively prolific artist. His output includes paintings, graphic pieces, drawings and collages, along with contributions in the worlds of dance and of film. His early works focused, in particular, on themes involving circus, vaudeville and theatre settings. That reflected the world in which he was living and working at the time, but as his career progressed beyond stage performing, those themes nevertheless remained integral to his output, though they were no longer always to the fore.

The image cycle "Das Hölzerne Theater" (The Wooden Theatre) of 1945/46 established Camaro as part of the postwar "Berlin arts scene". It demonstrates his sense of space and perspective, with bold shapes and slanted surfaces set in staggered overlapping compositions. Till the end of the 1940s Camaro's approach was mainly figurative, his paintings communicating a narrative that in part operates below the surface, but which also evokes a melancholy poeticism. In the rather cautious colour selections, shades of brown predominate, off-setting contrasting bright accents.

In the 1950s Camaro's focus switched to more starkly abstract paintings. Sharply delineated forms and symbols with mathematical precision characterise this work. The "Instrumentenbildern" (literally "instrument pictures") of the 1960s took him back to more figurative elements. In his search for a life in harmony with nature, he found in Sylt a special source of inspiration for depictions of natural landscapes and lighting. Bright colours, notably shades of white, dominate the large-format canvases of his later work, in some of which he revives devices from his earlier periods such as collage techniques.

In 1955 Camaro started to receive commissions for public art. Probably the best known example was his collaborative project with his then partner, the ceramics artist Susanne Riée, for a permanent work created from strongly coloured glass blocks at the Berliner Philharmonie (concert hall) (1963). There were further works of the same kind produced for public buildings, now in collaboration with Renata Camaro, notably at the Berlin Public library ("Staatsbibliothek)") (1974/75) and at the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum (1980/81).

Alexander and Renata Camaro foundation The Alexander and Renata Camaro foundation was founded in Berlin by Renata Camaro in 2009 to manage the couple's artistic legacy, which is made accessible to the public through publications and exhibitions in "Camaro House" and other accessible locations. The foundation also supports contemporary painting, dance, literature, film and music in connection with Alexander Camaro's multi-faceted work.