Hoelle/Arbeit, 1989

Albert Oehlen is a contemporary German artist and works and lives in Buhler and Segovia. His art is related to the Neue Wilde movement but he more recently is being described as a free radical. His focus is not as much on what he is painting, but the process of painting itself. In the 80's he went through abstract elements of painting in his work which is said to be due to his reaction of the Neo-Expressionist of the time. After that, he began working within self-imposed parameters that were often described as absurd. He would only use gray tones in his grey paintings and restricted himself to blue, yellow or red during another of his series which he called 'bad' paintings. During this time he created his 'Adolf Hitler' portrait which earned him some fame. By the 90's, Albert Oehlen's work appeared as lines and smears of paint he sprayed and brushed over collage images. These images were transferred onto a canvas with large inkjet printers used in creating billboards. In more recent work, Finger Paintings his deep feelings come out in his work with the use of his hands as well as brushes, spray cans, and rags.