Oliver Bak

The mystical scenes of painter Oliver Bak unite the spirits of the past and future. He constructs enigmatic narratives by conflating different fragments of reality—from fiction and the real, history and the present, mythology and life, to the tangible and the subconscious. Bak’s pictorial worlds are propelled by constant synthesis and anchored in a deep understanding of the medium’s history. His mottled brushwork and magnetic use of colour allow plants to sprout on the surface of his canvases and empyrean figures to emerge from leafy areas and flecks of light, breaking down spatial categories. Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are pleased to present both Bak’s first exhibition at the Berlin gallery and the Danish artist’s first exhibition in Germany.