"Painting isn't about something, it just is." - Neo Rauch
With an idiosyncratic approach of pairing seemingly contradictory visual elements of centuries-spanning artistic movements as well as mythical creatures, historical figures and pop culture elements, Michael Kutsche creates evocative paintings and animations that feel at once like fragments of anachronistic fairytales but also raise questions about the human condition and nostalgia, and ultimately force us to view past and present from a new angle.
Clunker Carnival
Michael Kutsche
And the Witch Said - Edition of 10
This piece holds particular significance for Michael Kutsche, as it marks a pivotal transition in his artistic journey. Initially, he viewed his digital creations as mere compositional sketches to their analog counterparts - oil paintings intended for gallery exhibitions. However, his extensive two-decade experience in working digitally, encompassing character design in film and a proficiency in 3D animation and digital painting, gradually reshaped his artistic perspective.
Michael Kutsche
Melancholia Bay - Edition of 5
With his new release "Melancholia Bay", Michael Kutsche further explores the realm between figuration and abstraction, and his signature dystopian humor infused place he coins “digital limbo”: A featureless avatar with a head that seems to be reduced to an inflatable projection screen echoes a social media induced identity crisis. Deliberately digital pictorial elements seem to clash with traces of traditional painting, as if to poke fun at the romanticized but long overhauled image of the master painter in his messy studio.
Goodbye Horses
frag·men·tal
New Renaissance
DeadPoetsDontCry
Hard to Be a God
Pleasure Island
Onward
Hotel Melancholia