Born 1970 | Lives and works in Berlin
Anselm Reyle, one of the most renowned German contemporary artists, creates works transcending the boundaries between painting, sculpture and installation. His approach is rooted in material experimentation; he recontextualises art by e.g. incorporating found materials into his works. Reyle seeks to engage a broad audience, rather than addressing only art theorists or historians.
In his abstract works, Reyle frequently works with reflective materials such as polyester and plastic film. Metallic, shimmering foil is crumpled inside acrylic boxes in an apparently accidental and free-form manner, yet with a balanced composition. In the works he paints onto jute canvas with thick brushstrokes in a spontaneous and intuitive manner, Reyle emphasizes the gestural quality of the technique. The contrasts between the light-reflecting, shimmering foil and transparent acrylic, as well as between the roughness of the canvas and thick layers of paint, invite the viewer to explore the material and optical qualities. At the same time, they alter the perception of depth. The constantly shifting reflections of the foil make the work dependent on its surroundings: light, space and the viewer’s position influence its appearance at any given moment. The work is not a static object; its visual character emerges in relation to the viewer and the surrounding space.
By bringing together materials such as neon lights, plastic waste and car paint, Reyle draws on both materials associated with art history and those that appear external to it. Thus, he departs from conventional approaches and opens up new possibilities for interpreting art.
Through this constant transformation, Reyle seems to pursue the liberation of the image from the limitations of the picture plane. Playing with optical illusions, Reyle’s avant-garde approach, which combines Pop Art and Expressionism, challenges conventional ideas about the expressive possibilities in abstract art. Elements drawn from everyday life and commercial imagery meet Minimalism, while also drawing inspiration from kitsch.
Reyle has graduated from Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. He holds a professor position at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg. Reyle has exhibited extensively around the world, e.g. Arken Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Kunsthalle Zürich, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, The National Museum and Art Gallery, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, Malmö Konsthall, Singapore Art Museum, MOCA Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Tate Modern, London, Palazzo Grassi, Venice and Carré d’art – Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes. Reyle’s works are in the collections of Centre Pompidou and Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, Pinault Collection, Venice and Samsung Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, among others.