Albert Oehlen's work focuses exclusively on exposing art's failures. Borrowing from the tropes of traditional abstract painting, Oehlen readily subverts art's lofty idealism. Using traditional forms and techniques, he conceives a contemporary dialogue of criticism based on the possibilities of creative function rather than aesthetics. In a modern world where painting is considered dead, Albert Oehlen reinvents its life as a manic zombie state: mutated, funny and ideologically dangerous.

BIOGRAPHY

1954

Born in Krefeld, Germany

Currently lives and works in Bizkaia, Spain

1978

Hochschule f'r Bildende Kunst, Hamburg, BA

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2005

Spiegelbilder 1982-1985 Max Hetzler, Berlin

2004

Mus'e Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne

The Good Life Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York

2003

Alfonso Artiaco, Naples

2002

Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels

2001

Self Portraits Skarstedt Fine Art, New York

Checkers Galerie Baerbel Graesslin, Frankfurt

2000

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

Patrick Painter Inc, Santa Monica

1999

Lord, Pferdeflusterer, Antichrist Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid

1998

Galerie Mikael Anderson, Copenhagen

Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles

1997

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Baladas Heavy Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne

1996

Obras Recientes Galeria Juana de Aizpuru, Madrid

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2005

Groundswell MOMA, New York

2004

Pixels Stellan Holm Gallery, New York

Hot Ice: Recent Painting from the Scharpff Collection Kunstalle, Hamburg

2003

Biennale d'Art Contemporain de Lyon Lyon

Painting Pictures: Painting and Media in the Digital Age Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany

2000

Painting on the Move Kunstmuseum, Basel

Glee: Painting Now Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, Florida

1999

Decades in Dialogue Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Digital Sites Numark Gallery, Washington

Sammlung Essl: The First View Klosterneuburg, Vienna

1998

Recollection Kunstverein, Graz

Georg Herold / Albert Oehlen Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

Selbstportraits Galerie Barbel Grasslin, Frankfurt

Fast Forward Archives Kunstverein, Hamburg

1997

Display Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen

1996

On Paper II Schmidt Contemporary Art, St Louis

Peinture-Peinture Galerie Samia Saouma, Paris

Provins ? Legende Museet for Samtidskunst, Roskilde

Article Theme :-

Albert Oehlen combines aspects of figurative sexuality, mechanical distance and painterly abstraction. It's a bastard hybrid of painting, incorporating smooth polished forms, heavy brushwork, and the implied photo-gloss of airbrush. The end result is more like a collage than a painting: a loud and exasperating argument in different tongues, promising never to be resolved for lack of a common idiom.Albert Oehlen is a master of ironic wit and his paintings are elaborate strategies of provocation. In Untitled, Albert Oehlen subverts the authority of the avant-garde, creating an abstraction of dumbed-down abjection. His painting poses as a deceptive icon of aesthetic contemplation, punctuated with flirtatious eyes returning the viewer's gaze.

Read Entire Article about Artist Albert Oehlen paintings and artwork at The Saatchi-Gallery http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/albert_oehlen.htm