Since 1989 Jacques Gassmann has worked on cycles composed of a series of large size canvas paintings on specific themes.

The working title of this series is TOP GUN - like the title of a movie the story of which takes place at the training centre of top pilots of the US Navy at Mirarmar, California.

In this cycle J. Gassmann has transformed the visual impressions of the supersonic flights (at a speed of up to 2 mach) of pilots into paintings. Already in his paintings on the Apokalypse, with their special borderline effect between painting and experimental photography, Gassmann succeeded in using his special ink technique to create spaces of almost cosmic depth. This infinite space becomes the central theme of "Supersonic". Beyond all social criticism of military action in a nuclear age, which might be expected in this context, Gassman is only interested in the eye of the pilot, in his visual and emotional experience during this high speed flight.

Here something is expressed and made visible which is part of our reality, but which so far has hardly ever been taken up by artists - probably because of the military implications which by way of slogans like "esthetisizing horror" have become a kind of taboo area for artists. In J. Gassmann's paintings you discsover new forms and a kind of neofuturistic approach.

Carsten Ahrens Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover