Matthias Dornfeld

Matthias Dornfeld’s oeuvre is an inventory of warped classical painterly motifs: the portrait, the landscape, the still life, the abstract. What binds all of his very disparate works together is the way in which they are painted. The subject is not important, but rather, the approach. Dornfeld employs a technique to access his own subconscious, in an attempt to free himself from all theory and ideology. He abandons all academic pretense, and pivots instead toward a cosmic, unmediated clarity.

Matthias Dornfeld studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich. In 2014 and 2015 he was visiting professor at the same Munich art academy, temporarily replacing Professor Günther Förg.

Dornfeld’s art has been shown internationally since 2001, and is part of numerous renowned art collections. Selected recent solo shows include: Danke Esslingen, Villa Merkel, DE (2023); L’Amour Change Tout, Oldenburger Kunstverein, DE (2022); Crème brûlée, Soy Capitán, Berlin, DE (2020); Karussell, Helsinki Contemporary, FI (2016); A Loose Tooth in the Booth, Bruce Haines, London, UK (2016); Paintings Sweet Paintings, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, DE (2014); Die Schönheit der Frau des Bäckers, Waldburger Wouters, Brussels, BE (2014); No Deleuze, No Flip-Flops, San Juan, PR (2011); Matthias Dornfeld, Ben Kaufmann, Berlin, DE (2010); Matthias Dornfeld, Harris Lieberman, New York, US (2009).

Selected group shows include: NEW HEAVY SHIT, NBB Gallery, Berlin, DE (2024); Ungekämmte Bilder, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, DE (2023); Just in case you would have forgotten, curated by Erno Vroonen, Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna, AT (2020); Amidst, a three person exhibition including Matthias Dornfeld, Roger Herman and Leo Mock, China, Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles, US (2017); Die Dritte Hand – Last Exit Painting, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin, DE (2015); Captain Pamphile, A pictorial novel in pieces, Based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, Deichtorhallen & Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg, DE (2011).

Matthias Dornfeld, born 1960 in Esslingen, Germany, lives and works in Berlin.