Matthias Dornfeld
°1960, Esslingen (DE) – lives and works in Berlin (DE)
The paintings of Matthias Dornfeld are based on his longtime interest in conventional themes, such as portraiture, landscape and still life. Within his interest in particular painting discourses, he not only operates in the tradition of classical pictorial genres but also generates a visual aesthetic characteristic of earlier approaches to naïve expressive painting. Dornfeld’s work ultimately demonstrates that they are more acutely situated in the inventive painting strategies of analytical abstraction.
He explains: “The subjects and motives are simple, they come without thinking. They’re stupid, banal, commonplace, clichés.” It is through the repetitive use of the familiar, even boring—both in process and in subject matter—that Dornfeld subverts these painterly tropes and, in turn, makes them strange, makes them funny.
(courtesy of Mousse Publishing)
Matthias Dornfeld - Untitled (out of the horse series), 2021
Matthias Dornfeld - Untitled (lion yellowbluepink), 2017
Matthias Dornfeld - Ohne Titel (Dinner is ready), 2018
Matthias Dornfeld - Untitled (portrait), 2020
Matthias Dornfeld - Cinzano (out of the horse series), 2018
Matthias Dornfeld - Untitled (Portrait-Circular), 2015
Matthias Dornfeld - Ohne Titel, 2013
Matthias Dornfeld - Ohne Titel (out of the horse series), 2016
The work of Matthias Dornfeld is shown internationally, including at Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen; Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki; Salon Dahlmann, Berlin; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Deichtorhallen & Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg.
Matthias Dornfeld is represented by the following galleries; click through to discover more of his work.
Waldburger Wouters, Brussels / Basel
You can also see more of Matthias Dornfeld’s work on his own website.
