With inflated faces donning hollowed-out eyes and teeth-baring grins, the disquieting cast of biomorphic figures that animate German-painter André Butzer’s colourful pictorial world are internationally celebrated, found in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art in New York; and Yuz Museum in Shanghai, among numerous others.
Created a year prior to Butzer’s move to California—where the artist still lives and works—Untitled exemplifies his self-coined ‘Science Fiction Expressionism’ style, which evokes the colour range of Edvard Munch, Philip Guston’s cartoon-esque markmaking, and the raw, primitive renderings of Jean Dubuffet’s Art Brut.
Having exhibited widely since his 2003 debut with Galerie Max Hetzler, Butzer has been the subject of institutional solo exhibitions around the world, including at the Yuz Museum, Shanghai; Kunsthalle Nuremberg; and Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover. His top result at auction was recently achieved by Phillips in New York in October 2021.
Provenance
Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles Acquired from the above by the present owner
Literature
Nino Mier, ed., André Butzer: Works on Paper 2001–2019, Bielefeld/Berlin, 2019, no. 74, p. 163 (illustrated)
signed and dated 'A. Butzer '17' lower right crayon and pencil on paper sheet 20.7 x 14.7 cm. (8 1/8 x 5 3/4 in.) frame 36.5 x 30 cm. (14 3/8 x 11 3/4 in.) Executed in 2017, this work is registered in the André Butzer Archive.