Opening Weekend: Volker Hüller | GRIMM

GRIMM is pleased to present a new solo exhibition by Volker Hüller (b. 1976 in Forchheim, DE).

The culture of systematic displacement lives in Hüller's new body of work, a term once coined by Max Ernst to describe the fragmented logic of collage. Current society is hardly more apt to be described in such an abjuring pictorial rhetoric. The paintings in this exhibition are constructed like intricate jigsaw puzzles, bodies and other hints of figuration appear incongruously amid ceramic hands, arms and fingers. In the best of the German Expressionist tradition Hüller's work emphasizes inner feelings and ideas above replicating reality, be they born from personal memory or collective myth.

Volker Hüller's paintings and the new ceramic works on display were all conceived during the pandemic and the past year has caused a significant shift, for both artist and viewer, in the way we perceive and the change of pace by which we would normally go about our everyday environment. The works in this exhibition are more detailed and reflective. Hüller employs a more saturated color palette to activate the emotional aspects of his subject matter, and depict heightened states of being. The scenes in his canvases are brought into physical form through the artist's incorporation of brightly glazed, ceramic body parts that are scaled to human proportion. Hüller also uses fabric, straw, and other everyday materials and in some instances he alters the frame of the canvas itself to create a dynamic pictorial terrain. Hüller's bold material exploration, and his skill at locating the intersection between comedic and disturbing, are aspects of his practice that continue to stand out.

About the artist:

Volker Hüller (b. 1976 in Forchheim, DE) currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY (US). He is acclaimed for his multi- faceted practice that spans the mediums of oil painting, etching and ceramic sculpture. After studying with Norbert Schwontkowski (1949-2013) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg (DE), Hüller has exhibited his work widely in both Europe and the United States.

Recent solo exhibitions include, Paradise Inn, GRIMM, New York, NY (US); Tonics, Van Doren Waxter, New York, NY (US); Volley, Produzentengalerie, Hamburg (DE); L.I.T.S. Homo Naledi, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL); Volker Hüller, 11R Gallery, New York, NY (US); Volker Hüller, Timothy Taylor, London (UK); Volker Hüller, curated by Anna-Catherina Gebbers, Salon 94, New York, NY (US).

Hüller’s work is currently included in the group exhibition Im Frage at Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen (NL). He has recently participated in group exhibitions at the following venues: Museum Weserburg für Moderne Kunst, Bremen (DE); Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort (NL); Saatchi Gallery, London (UK); and the Falckenberg Collection, Hamburg (DE). His work is included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (US); The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (US) and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (IL), amongst others.