ABOUT EXHIBITION : Rare Specimens
With the exhibition 'Hartmut Neumann. Rare Specimens', we are presenting the Cologne-based artist for the third time in a solo show. Featuring large-scale paintings, works on paper and particularly his latest sculptures, the exhibition encompasses three of the many artistic techniques that define Hartmut Neumann's creative practice. The works showcase his familiar, lush, and abundant plant world in a transformed appearance. Rather than the dense network of jungle plants—wildly growing, intricately intertwined, and merging into almost abstract ornamental patterns, all under the influence of cosmic threat—individual plants now take centre stage. The plants appear as if they are actors on a stage against a chalk-white background, subtly hinting at a horizon. In their arrangement, the spectacle even evokes the landscape architecture of a tree nursery—albeit with very rare, surreal specimens.
This recent development follows Hartmut Neumann's deep engagement with photography. Observations of fallen or withered trees, captured with his camera, serve as the foundation for initial sketches. From this pool of ideas, the artist develops his surreal plants, whose names he cleverly and humorously records in the titles of his works, much like entries in a botanical dictionary. In recent years, sculptures have also emerged from the two-dimensional picture space. Using materials such as wood, plaster, and papier-mâché, Hartmut Neumann models sculptural plants, which he paints with floral ornamentation and lush green foliage from top to base. The strikingly surreal plants in Hartmut Neumann's visual world immediately draw the viewer into a fantastic realm. Some paintings even seem like a futuristic translation of Renaissance frescoes, such as the garden paintings on the walls of Palazzo Massimo in Rome. This impression is particularly pronounced in the artist's large-scale paintings, so that in our exhibition, a connection between the exterior and the interior also takes shape.

ABOUT ARTISTS : Hartmut Neumann
Hartmut Neumann works’ construct a world of their own: they take the viewer into micro- and macrocosms, which initially seem untouched and harmonious, but on closer inspection reveal sinister abysses. In his pictorial language, elements of the real, the unconscious, mythology, and chance collide to create an unsettling symbiosis. With his bright colors but also dark backgrounds, Hartmut Neumann offers a glimpse into infinity. Hartmut Neumann (born 1954 in Delmenhorst) completed his studies at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen in 1980. He has been a professor at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig since 1992. He received various awards and scholarships early on, such as the Villa Massimo, Rome (1985/86); the Art Prize of the German Artists' Association, Berlin (1988); and Art Prize »Young West«, Recklinghausen (1983). His works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, most recently in Kolumba, the Archbishop's Museum of the Diocese of Cologne; the Heinrich Vogeler Museum in Barkenhoff, Worpswede; the Ratingen Museum; and the KUBUS, Hanover. Further exhibitions have been held at the Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation, Berlin (2012); Kunsthalle Recklinghausen and Kunstmuseum Celle (2011); Forum Kunst, Rottweil (2009); Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart and Kunstmuseum Bochum (2004); Herzog-Anton-Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig (2003); Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal (2000); Ludwig Forum Aachen (1998). Hartmut Neumann lives and works in Cologne.

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    Hartmut Neumann