Jan Davidoff

It would be too easy to follow one’s first impression and dismiss Jan Davidoff’s paintings as “figurative art”. In fact, his works are to be positioned on a level between concreteness and abstraction, on which real life scenes are confronted with a deeper meaning. Therefore photographs of travel experiences are being adapted on the computer back at the studio and then reduced to silhouettes, exaggerated and layered in various pictorial planes to set them into re-evaluating and significant contexts.

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For example, the crowd paintings are inspired by Davidoff’s experiences in the tourist strongholds all over the world. But at the same time the indifferent background detaches the masses from their object relations and implements a second level of meaning. It is not about a real scene in front of a mighty cathedral or at a strongly frequented fair, it is more about the crowd itself and the role of the individual in its middle. The often used golden background intensifies this detachedness from content by evoking an association with the early Medieval religious icons, in which saints – enraptured from the material world – are painted in front of a golden background. Hence the viewer is confronted with the question about the relation between the individual and the almost overpowering mass. In Davidoff’s paintings the one or other person stands out, because of extraordinary clothing or a specially exposed position. But on the whole the individual person gets lost and only the dominating human crowd remains to be seen, analogical to a beehive. That conjures up a feeling of being lost, but at the same time the will to self-assertion. This way Jan Davidoff manages to communicate one of the most fundamental desires of today’s society, the perception as a unique individual, in his at first so easily as solely “figurative” classified paintings. Soon it is evident, that Davidoff’s works aren’t mere travel impressions, but an evaluation of the constellations of today’s society.

Jan Davidoff was born 1976 in Norden and reached his diploma in painting with Prof. Günther Förg at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, München in 2009. He lives and works in Munich.

VITA

1976 geboren in Norden/Deutschland

2005 – 2009 Akademie der Bildenden Künste München (Prof. Anke Doberauer, Prof. Günther Förg)

2009 Diplom für Malerei und Graphik

lebt und arbeitet in München und Utting am Ammersee

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2012
Galerie Maurer – Naturalisation – Frankfurt am Main

TS Art projects – Hide’n’Seek – Berlin

Kunstverein Stellwerk – black’n’white Diessen

2011
Kunstclub Hamburg – Ruf der Menge – Hamburg

Galerie Maurer – Neue Bilder – Frankfurt

Galerie Terminus – Davidoff meets Polke – München

2010
Galerie Getreidegasse – Flüchtig – Salzburg/Österreich

2009
Aando Fine Art – Überfüllung – Berlin

Galerie Schöneck – Neue Werke – Basel

Galerie Terminus – Crossing – München

2008
Galerie Maurer – black’n’gold – Frankfurt am Main

mbf Kunstprojekte – black’n’gold – Freiburg

Galerie Maurer- One Artist Show – Art – Karlsruhe

2007
Galerie Maurer – Way in way out – Frankfurt am Main

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2012
Hal Bromm Gallery – Abstract Realities- New York

Munich Modern/12 – Principles of Composition – München

Galerie Terminus – First Choice – München

Galerie Maurer – Summertime 3 – Frankfurt am Main

Studios of Key West – Abstract realities – Key West/USA

Stadtgalerie Altötting – Delikatessen – Altötting

2011
Munich Modern/11 – Les Fleurs du Mal – München

2010
Galerie Maurer – Summertime 2 – Frankfurt am Main

Essenheimer Kunstverein – Jahresgaben – Essenheim

2009
Galerie Terminus – Künstler der Galerie – München

Galerie Biedermann – Künstler der Galerie – München

Frankfurter Kunstkabinett – Architekturen – Frankfurt am Main

Galerie Maurer – Summertime 1 – Frankfurt am Main

2008
Galerie ArtMbassy – Künstler der Galerie – Berlin