Johannes Müller-Franken
New Paintings
5 April — 28 April, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Johannes Müller-Franken New York City, NY — Louis K. Meisel Gallery is pleased to announce Figurative Ideation, an exhibition of Johannes Müller-Franken’s recent paintings. An artist with an exacting mind, Müller-Franken is a Photorealist painter, who is focused primarily on contemporary figurative compositions. His meticulous paintings depict fictional scenes that explore interactions between his subjects in dreamlike circumstances.
The imagery in Müller-Franken’s paintings is precisely engineered and composed. He has stated, “[t]he situations I paint are imaginary orchestrations. Their basis is not a personal single glimpse, they represent a sum of disparate sensual experiences which then appear in a new context.” Thus, models, costumes, and props are carefully chosen and arranged in preplanned settings; it is from photographs of these moments that Müller-Franken is able to translate his personal vision to the canvas, all of which is painted by hand.
The results are compositionally and aesthetically striking, providing a voyeuristic experience for his audience. Müller-Franken’s depictions of interactions capture ephemeral moments that are punctuated by the use of cinematic lighting. Often portraying illusory situations at twilight, Müller-Franken heightens the drama of his compositions by creating transitional moments that merely allude to what has or what will transpire. His work invites his audience to ruminate on the scenario at hand, leaving many questions unanswered.
Johannes Müller-Franken: Figurative Ideation is on display at 141 Prince Street, New York, NY from April 5th to April 28th. For more information, please contact Louis K. Meisel Gallery at gallery@meisels.com
About Johannes Müller–Franken
Johannes Müller-Franken (b. 1960, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) is perhaps one of Photorealism’s most cinematic painters. His compositions are imaginary orchestrations, which he painstakingly recreates from scratch; clothing is created, models are carefully chosen and all of the accoutrement for the scene is carefully set for his photoshoots. An avid observer, Müller-Franken creates ambiguous narratives that invite his audience to enter as voyeuristic participants. Müller-Franken’s paintings have been exhibited internationally; he is a graduate of University of Mainz, where he studied film and painting.