HOW DID THIS PHRASE COME TO DEFINE YOUR APPROACH TO PAINTING?

Actually that‘s not at all my description. New Beauty, yes. Punkrock Attitude no. Anika Meier once described my work like this and it made sense at that time. In my youth I was a punk and the anarchist-ish mentality isn‘t exactly dead yet, but I wouldn’t wanna limit my work too much in that direction. Or let’s just erase “Punkrock” and stick with “attitude”. That would suit me. The edge to the New Beauty that I aim to create (although the term points to what fuels me, rather than to my output) derives from my impatient temperament, not from an outdated subculture.

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE OLD MASTERS, AND HOW HAVE YOU MADE THOSE TRADITIONS YOUR OWN?

It‘s true love. I just said to my girlfriend the other day: when I look at Contemporary Art, or even the Modern Classics, I find it all very interesting. When I look at Rubens however, or Titian, or Caravaggio, Van Dyck, Velázquez, or El Greco my heart skips a beat. There‘s obviously exceptions in all categories, but in Painting as an artform, I generally look for a mix of studying objects and kind of experiencing their shapes. The translation of this in oil paint on canvas should show traces of a hard-fought battle yet seemingly effortless at the same time. Not just the fastest way towards an end result. That may all sound a bit out there, but I couldn‘t really explain it otherwise.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHERE THAT EMOTIONAL TENSION SITS IN A PAINTING?

I couldn‘t say.. I don‘t think there is a decision there, things just evolve while painting.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ART CAN OFFER WHEN IT SPEAKS EARNESTLY?

It can touch and move. Through beautiful things like shapes we unconsciously respond to and brushwork that reveal something of the artist’s temperament while making simple decisions, like going left or right, emphasizing foreground or background, being careful or brutal, et cetera. On itself it‘s all totally unimportant but put together in one piece of art, one aftermath of a battle, it speaks of being human.

WHAT ROLE DOES CONTRADICTION PLAY IN YOUR VISUAL STORYTELLING?

The situations, or constellations that I go for are often about the question whether things happening in life are random, or meaningful and according to plan. So my use of quotes from the baroque and classical era of painting are an indication towards a grander scheme. Yet without their original theme. So what‘s left are more or less hollow situations with the theatrical ado of all-importance.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHICH REFERENCES TO INCLUDE?

The details are often brought in by the models that pose for me. I pick my „actors” based on their appearance, which often includes their personal style. Then I let myself be surprised and eventually curate what to use. So it‘s pretty much my own taste in styling, but with an element of chance.

WHAT ARE YOU EXPLORING THROUGH THAT BLEND OF PAST AND PRESENT?

I strongly feel that what we consider to be the past is actually not really past, but still very present and alive. Literally seen, of course past is past, but the present wouldn‘t exist if it weren‘t for everything that has led to the current moment. Added to my belief that serious painting had never died anyway — to use a traditional way of brushwork and composition, even to occasionally quote the one or other Old Master, in order to talk about things contemporary, only makes sense.

WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE DO YOU HOPE VIEWERS HAVE WHEN THEY ENCOUNTER YOUR WORK FOR THE FIRST TIME?

I just hope they really like it. Love it even. Each in their own way. Sometimes people start telling me why they like my work and more often than not, they seem to see things in it that I‘ve never been aware of myself.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 4BYSIX PROJECT, AND HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR PRACTICE CONNECTING TO ITS MISSION?

You guys asked me so nicely hahah! Plus I knew that my friend Stefano Fraone, aka DotPigeon, had done something really cool on one of your bus panels. It‘s a while ago…

The mission is a good thing and so is my work. That‘s connection enough for me.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON IN THE STUDIO, AND WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR PRACTICE HEADING NEXT?

Since a while now I‘ve been opening myself more and more to allow stronger abstraction as well as unfinished parts in my paintings. The only downside of the more traditional way of painting to me has always been the finishing of the last bits. Cleaning up and regulating the last unclear elements in a figurative manner. This has often murdered the original soul of a work, at least in part, and made it too polite. Since allowing myself to just let it be, I‘ve started to acquire a taste for a more abstract approach and for the first time even an understanding of how hard it is to speak through an abstract language without being random. Randomness I really despise, when it comes to painting.

In this way I‘m working on a set of new canvases that will be shown in my upcoming solo at Plan X gallery in Milan, later this year.