Albert Oehlen is once again dealing with “hand-made painting”. A form of painting that nonetheless explicitly knows its opposite and, as such, playfully neutralises it. Contemporary, but… Therein lies their ‘contemporaneity’, which today almost sounds like melancholy. Perhaps a little bit of comfort and gentle, complex dreams after all? Hopefully. Thus the works can be “simultaneously abstract and representational” and, in spite of all criticism and cynical harshness, extend beyond the mere present, like the "trees" which also unfold upon them. If “you follow this minimal rule”, there really are trees: “If you say there is something thicker in the middle which gets thinner on the outside, and strokes that move away from it, it is a tree. And if you look at one of the branches, you can see that it has its own ideas. In this way I have fulfilled the representational but can likewise satisfy the ‘task of the abstract artist’ and allow for the most unusual combination of lines to be found.” It is not the digitalised world of goods that “helps [him] with painting” but, on the contrary, it might be that Albert Oehlen, painting precisely with these outlandish lines, offers impressive ‘points of assistance’ in the understanding of the images of our present.
Albert Oehlen was born in 1954 in Krefeld, Germany. He graduated in 1981 from Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg. From 2000 to 2009, he worked as a professor in painting at Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf. He lives in Switzerland. Since 1979 he has had numerous solo exhibitions and his work can be found in many public collections including: Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Carré d’Art, Nîmes. Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. De Appel, Amsterdam. Deichtorhallen, Hamburg. Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna. Guggenheim Bilbao. ICA Institute of Contemporary Art, London. Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover. Kunsthalle Basel. Kunsthalle Zürich. Kunstmuseum Bonn. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen, Düsseldorf. Kunstverein Reutlingen. LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havanna. Museum Brandhorst, München. Museum Folkwang, Essen. Museum Ludwig, Köln. Museum Wiesbaden. Neue Galerie Gladbeck. New Museum, New York. Renaissance Society, Chicago. Städel, Frankfurt am Main. Whitechapel Gallery, London.
Press
Beer with a Painter: Albert Oehlen, Jennifer Samet, Hyperallergic, 08.04.2017Vita
1954
Albert Oehlen is born in Krefeld
(lives and works in Switzerland)
1978—1981
Studies at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg
2000—2009
Professorship in Painting at the Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf
Selected Solo Shows
2024
New Paintings – Gagosian, London
2023
Friedrichs Foundation, Weidingen
2022
Carsten Nicolai / Albert Oehlen – Grau, Galerie Eigen + Art, Berlin
Works on Paper and a Sculpture – Gagosian, Athens
Sculptures and Works on Paper – Hetzler Marfa
2021—2022
"big paintings by me with small paintings by others" – MASI, Lugano
2021
Jahn und Jahn, Munich
unverständliche braune Bilder – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (catalogue)
Ömega Man – Reena Spaulings, Los Angeles
Tramonto Spaventoso – Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles
Tramonto Spaventoso – Gagosian, Beverly Hills (catalogue)
2020
Bäume | Trees (mit Carroll Dunham) – Sprengel Museum, Hanover
2019
Bäume | Trees (with Carroll Dunham) – Kunsthalle Dusseldorf
Serpentine Gallery, London
Spiegelbilder – Galerie Max Hetzler; London Nahmad Contemporary, New York
New Paintings – Gagosian, Hong Kong
Fn Paintings – Skarstedt, New York
UNFERTIG – Kunstmuseum St. Gallen
SPOT ON: Albert Oehlen – Museum Brandhorst, Munich
Drawings – Gagosian at 420a North Camden Drive, Beverly Hills
2018
TRANCE – Aïshti Foundation, Beirut
Sexe, Religion, Politique – Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris (catalogue); Gagosian Gallery, Paris
Cows by the Water – Pinault Collection, Palazzo Grassi, Venice
Albert Oehlen I Julian Schnabel – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Albert Oehlen and Peppi Bottrop. Line packers" – Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles
2017
Grau – Nahmad Contemporary, New York
Jahn und Jahn, Munich
Ö̈ – Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana
Elevator Paintings. Trees – Gagosian Gallery, New York
2016
Woods Near Oehle – The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
Recent Works – Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao
Georg Baselitz + Albert Oehlen – Kunstverein Reutlingen, Reutlingen
Works on Paper – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Gagosian Gallery, London
Stiftung zur Förderung zeitgenössischer Kunst in Weidingen
2015
Gagosian Gallery, New York
Home and Garden – New Museum, New York (cat.)
An Old Painting in Spirit – Kunsthalle Zürich, Zurich
Rawhide – Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery, Chicago
2014
Fabric Paintings – Skarstedt Gallery, New York
Die 5000 Finger von Dr. Ö – Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden (cat.)
Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles (cat.)
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris (cat.)
2013
Interieurs – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (cat.)
Malerei – mumok - museum moderner kunst, stiftung ludwig wien, Vienna (cat.)
Recent work – Gagosian Gallery, Geneva
Albert Oehlen / John Sparagana – Studiolo, Zurich
Moderne Farbkonzepte / Conceptos modernos del color – La Casa Encendida, Madrid (catalogue)
2012
Drawings – Gagosian Gallery, Rome (cat.)
New Paintings – Gagosian Gallery, New York (cat.)
Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn (cat.)
2011
Carré d'Art Musée d'art contemporain de Nîmes, Nîmes (cat.)
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (cat.)
Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris
Thomas Dane Gallery, London
2010
Werke aus der Sammlung – Sammlung Grässlin, St. Georgen
Emil Schumacher Museum, Hagen
Alfonso Artiaco, Naples
2009
Papier – Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt/Main
Réalité abstraite – Musée d' Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris (cat.)
Computer Paintings – Skarstedt Gallery, New York
Luhring Augustine, New York
Museo di Capodimonte, Naples (cat.)
2008
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (cat.)
Paintings 1988–2008 – John Berggruen Gallery, New York
Thomas Dane Gallery, London (cat.)
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (catalogue)
Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris
Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid
2007
Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt/Main
2006
I Will Always Champion Bad Painting – Whitechapel Gallery, London (cat.)
Painter of Light – Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York (cat.)
I Will Always Champion Good Painting – Arnolfini, Bristol (cat.)
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (cat.)
Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle
Darren Almond, Albert Oehlen. Time 2 Kill – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
2005
I know whom you showed last summer – MOCA - Museum of Modern Art, Miami (cat.)
New Paintings and Collages – Thomas Dane Gallery, London
Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris
Rennkostüm y los U.D.O.s – Galería Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid
Spiegelbilder 1982–1985 – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (cat.)
FRAC Auvergne - Ecuries de Chazerat, Clermont-Ferrand (cat.)
Paintings 1980–1981 – Skarstedt Fine Art, New York Thomas Ammann Fine Art, Zurich
2004
Secession, Vienna (cat.)
Malerei 1980–2004. Selbstportrait mit 50millionenfacher Lichtgeschwindigkeit – Musée Cantonale des Beaux
Arts, Lausanne; Domus Artium 2002; Salamanca, 2004; Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, 2005 (cat.)
Galeria Fortes Vilaça, São Paulo
Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York
The Good Life – Nolan/Eckman Gallery, New York
Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
2003
Alfonso Artiaco, Naples
Vier Gemälde – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt/Main
Tree-drawings – Richard Telles Gallery, Los Angeles
2002
Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, Strasbourg (cat.)
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (cat.)
2001
Pinturas y Dibujos – Galería Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid
Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York
Self Portraits – Skarstedt Fine Art, New York (cat.)
Checkers – Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt/Main (cat.)
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin
Patrick Painter, Inc., Santa Monica
Art & Public, Geneva
Terminale Erfrischung. Computercollagen und Malerei – Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover (cat.)
2000
Bernier / Eliades, Athens
Malerei – Kunsthalle Vierseithof, Luckenwalde (cat.)
Hände weg von der Liebe – Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg
Der Ritt der sieben Nutten. Das war mein Jahrhundert (with Markus Oehlen) – Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (cat.)
Das Privileg – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin; Patrick Painter, Santa Monica
Höre auf zu arbeiten, die Erregung nimmt Dir die Kraft – Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
1999
refuse, light and a joke invented in drunkenness – Luhring Augustine, New York; Galerie Freund / Wind, Vienna
Wings of Chickens – Nolan/Eckman Gallery, New York
Wollen sie mitmachen - ohne Handgranaten? – Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt/Main
Bereits Katzen werden auf die Spitze getrieben – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Lord, Pferdeflüsterer, Antichrist – Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid and Sevilla
1998
Galerie Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen (with Georg Herold)
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
AT – Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt/Main
INIT Kunst-Halle, Berlin
Galerie Freund / Wind, Vienna
Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris
1997
Kunsthalle Basel, Basel
Sala Rekalde, Bilbao
Galleri K, Oslo
Malerei – Kunsthalle Vierseithof, Luckenwalde (cat.)
Lass spielen (Vergessene Kinder) – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Baladas Heavy – Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
Achenbach Kunstausstellungen, Düsseldorf
1996
IVAM Centre del Carme, Valencia (cat.)
Obras Recientes – Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid; Luhring Augustine, New York
1995
Oehlen Williams 95 (with Christopher Williams) – Wexner Center for Arts, Columbus (cat.)
Galerie Samia Saouma, Paris
Gemälde – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (cat.)
Abortion of the Cool – Gesellschaft für Gegenwartskunst, Augsburg (cat.)
Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles
Bionic Rollo – Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt/Main
Vergessen. Unmut-Runde Kugeln (with Rainald Goetz ) – Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York
Drawings from Abortion of the Cool – Nolan/Eckman Gallery, New York
Recent Paintings – The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Chicago
1994
Villa Arson, Nice (cat.)
Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid
Galerie Borgmann Capitain, Cologne
Zwei Gemälde – Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Malerei – Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (cat.)
1993
K-Raum Daxer, Munich
Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg (cat.)
Galerie Peter Pakesch, Vienna (cat.)
Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt/Main (cat.)
Galerie Samia Saouma, Paris
Galerie der Stadt Wels, Wels
1992
Bruno Brunnet, Berlin
Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne (cat.)
Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid
Luhring Augustine, New York
1991
Luhring Augustine, New York
Drawings – Luhring Augustine Hetzler, Santa Monica
Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg
Galleri Nordanstad-Skarstedt, Stockholm
Zeichnungen – Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne (cat.)
1990
Galerie Peter Pakesch, Vienna
Galerie Isy Brachot, Brussels
Die grüne Tür – Galerie Grässlin - Ehrhardt, Frankfurt/Main
Realidad Abstracta (with Markus Oehlen) – Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo, Santander (cat.)
Vom Heissen Süden nach dem Weiten Osten – Friedrichshof, Zurndorf / Burgenland Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne
1989
Obras Recientes (with Martin Kippenberger) – Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid (cat.)
Galerie Grässlin - Ehrhardt, Frankfurt/Main
Galerie Bleich - Rossi, Graz
Linolschnitte – Forum Stadtpark, Graz (cat.)
Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne (cat.)
Luhring Augustine Hetzler, Santa Monica
1988
Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne
Zeichnungen und Linolschnitte – Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne
Estrechiamento De Mente – Edition, Julie Sylvester, New York
1987
Retrospektive – Galerie Susan Wyss, Zurich
Abräumung. Prokrustische Malerei 1982–84 – Kunsthalle Zürich, Zurich (cat.)
Der Übel – Grazer Kunstverein, Graz (cat.)
Oelbilder – Galerie Bleich - Rossi, Graz
Teppiche –Galerie Grässlin - Ehrhardt, Frankfurt/Main (cat.)
19 Bilder – Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg (cat.)
1986
Sinnlich. sittliche Wirkung der Farbe – Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne
Das Medium der Fotografie ist berechtigt, Denkanstösse zu geben – CCD Galerie, Düsseldorf; Ileana Sonnabend Gallery, New York
Galerie Six Friedrich, Munich (cat.)
Maximilian Verlag. Sabine Knust, Munich
Zeichnungen – Galerie Borgmann - Capitain, Cologne (cat.)
Das Geld – Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne (cat.)
Der Geist, der allen Menschen Geld leiht, ist der Liebe – Galerie Klein, Bonn
1985
Farbenlehre – Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg (cat.)
Abstrakte Bilder – Galerie Six Friedrich - Maximilian Verlag / Sabine Knust, Munich
1984
Hebben de Klassieken geleefd? – Galerie Paul Andriesse - Helen van der Meij, Amsterdam
My Mother was a Friend of the Enemy of the People – Galerie Peter Pakesch, Vienna
1983
Die Feinde unserer Feinde sind auch unsere Feinde – Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne
Ewige Feile – Maximilian Verlag - Sabine Knust, Munich (cat.)
1982
Montparnasse, da war das Leben klasse – Galerie Max Hetzler, Stuttgart
Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg
1981
Bevor ihr malt, mach ich das lieber – Galerie Max Hetzler, Stuttgart
Gucken, lecken, kaufen – Galerie Magers, Bonn Forum Kunst, Rottweil
