Jonas Burgert
Escape
Artist
Jonas Burgert
(1969, Berlín), Německo
Original Title
Escape
Date2017
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions90 × 80 cm
Classificationspaintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionJonas Burgert is a contemporary German painter based in Berlin. His monumental figurative works are permeated by a dark, decadent, and simultaneously grotesque aesthetic. They are created via traditional painterly techniques and the construction of an illusory pictorial space. Burgert’s paintings can be understood as a reaction to the reduction of form and content favoured in contemporary painting as well as the expansion of digital imagery into the art world. Burgert often portrays chaotic, gloomy pictorial scenes which feature archaic figures as carriers of psychological expressivity and apocalyptic existential scenarios. These images are not tied to real-world historical events—instead, Burgert draws inspiration from symbolist and surrealist poetics as well as contemporary pop culture.
The painting Fliehe depicts a woman shrouded in distinctive, archaic attire. The background is formed by a striking orange-and-black backdrop with an oriental-style pattern. The dynamism and expressivity of the scene is bolstered by the slant of the background, which leaves the scene open to the surrounding space, and therefore also to potential danger which cannot be escaped. The work can be understood as a symbolic portrayal of the existential human experience and the search for oneself.
Jonas Burgert (born 1969, Berlin) initially studied philosophy, becoming captivated by the ideas of Friedreich Nietzsche, and then proceeded to study psychology. Subsequently, he enrolled in the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, where he studied under Dieter Hacker, finishing his studies with a year-long master class in 1997. Between 1998 and 2000, he was awarded scholarships for study stays in Egypt and at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Since 1998, he has been exhibiting in Germany and abroad.
The painting Fliehe depicts a woman shrouded in distinctive, archaic attire. The background is formed by a striking orange-and-black backdrop with an oriental-style pattern. The dynamism and expressivity of the scene is bolstered by the slant of the background, which leaves the scene open to the surrounding space, and therefore also to potential danger which cannot be escaped. The work can be understood as a symbolic portrayal of the existential human experience and the search for oneself.
Jonas Burgert (born 1969, Berlin) initially studied philosophy, becoming captivated by the ideas of Friedreich Nietzsche, and then proceeded to study psychology. Subsequently, he enrolled in the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, where he studied under Dieter Hacker, finishing his studies with a year-long master class in 1997. Between 1998 and 2000, he was awarded scholarships for study stays in Egypt and at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Since 1998, he has been exhibiting in Germany and abroad.
