Albert Oehlen

Albert Oehlen began painting relatively late, partly influenced by his brother Markus Oehlen (who, incidentally, had an exhibition at MDD in 1995). In the 1980s, he employed a visual language that can be conveniently labeled as neo-expressionist due to the presumed impulsive painterly gesture and the absence of concern for the delicate, the virtuoso, or the beautiful. Oehlen’s artistic program during this period includes exaggerations in color usage and symbolism, while anthropomorphic figures become victims of anatomical horrors.

Albert Oehlen is fascinated by artists like Salvador Dali and Asger Jorn, who, through their (feigned?) genius, could elevate everything they touched to the status of art. That aura of genius surrounds Oehlen himself. The scale at which he works has such an overwhelming impact that one is inevitably convinced by the power and genius of the artist. However, he plays very ironically with his reputation as a painter.

Since 1992, Albert Oehlen has been experimenting with technological tools: he uses computer equipment for the serial reproduction of pixels and computer drawings on canvas, paper, or plastic sheets. On the one hand, he nullifies the painterly gesture by leaving the composition to the computer, thus freeing himself from the burden of art history. On the other hand, it is observed that he intervenes later by clearly erasing certain lines and adding others. Some of these compositions are a cacophony of the most intense colors, while others are conspicuously held in monotonous grey and black values. He sees these black paintings as therapy for his insatiable craving for the most intense colors.

With such a statement, he once again emphasizes his artistic fervor while simultaneously questioning it in an ironic and relativizing manner.