by Adrian Ghenie (Artist), Jürg Judin (Editor)
Particularly since his spectacular exhibition in the Romanian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, Adrian Ghenie (born 1977) has been celebrated as one of the most interesting and unconventional painters of his generation. His works--painted in oils sometimes applied with a palette knife or thrown onto the canvas--have already gained entry into the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Modern and the Centre Pompidou, and have achieved one auction record after another in the art market. Yet neither Ghenie's subjects nor his technique cater to public taste. The history of the "century of humiliation" (as Ghenie refers to the 20th century), and its perpetrators and victims, are the predominant sources for his collage-like compositions. These subjects are juxtaposed with heroes such as Van Gogh and Darwin, as well as depictions of himself.