Adrian Ghenie: Paintings 2014 to 2018

【Book Description】

Since his powerful presentation in the Romanian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, Adrian Ghenie (born 1977) has been widely recognized as one of the most influential and distinctive painters of his generation. Known for his expressive and dynamic oil paintings, Ghenie applies paint with palette knives or even throws it directly onto the canvas, creating rich textures and visceral energy. His work has attracted significant attention from the global art world and has been acquired by major institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, and Centre Pompidou in Paris. On the art market, his pieces continue to break auction records.

Despite his success, Ghenie’s art does not conform to popular taste. At the heart of his practice is a deep engagement with what he terms the “century of humiliation” — the 20th century — using a fragmented, collage-like visual language to explore the complex relationships between perpetrators and victims of history. These weighty and often unsettling themes are juxtaposed with portraits of modern heroes such as Van Gogh and Darwin, as well as self-representations, forming a compelling visual narrative that is both personal and universal. Ghenie’s work challenges viewers to confront the moral and historical dimensions of contemporary painting.

【Publication Details】

Editor: Juerg Judin
Publisher: Hatje Cantz Verlag
Dimensions: 29 × 28 cm
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 176 pages