Menschenbilder von Matthias Gálvez (Solo Exhibition)
Friday, March 6 to Saturday, April 25, 2026
Opening on March 5 at 7 pm, Introduction by Dr Ellen Markgraf (Kassel)
Aus dem Tagebuch der Bourgeoisie, oil on canvas, 60x80cm, 2025
In Matthias Gálvez's work, people in different contexts are the focus of his interest. There are portraits that focus on individual persons in specific contexts, such as the painting of a woman holding a picture book about Jan Vermeer entitled “Joy of Learning”. Other individual portraits refer to a biblical-religious context, such as “Noah” or “Die Beichte (The Confession)”. The artist also depicts situations involving several people, such as in the painting “From the Diary of the Bourgeoisie” or “Eudaimonia”, in which cultural heritage and contemporary issues enter into dialogue.
The people depicted are there, yet their presence does not lead to interaction with each other, but rather to a confrontation with the viewer. They prove to be counterparts and prompt the viewer to reflect on what is depicted. In this way, connections are made to existence in the here and now, but also to other contexts, such as sequences from the Bible.
The artist's realistic figurative painting makes titles indispensable. On the one hand, people and situations are depicted too concretely, but on the other hand, there are abstract elements in each work that surround the environment of the depicted figures. Between the very concrete and the indeterminate, stories emerge that are more or less clearly legible. Each viewer brings themselves into the viewing experience, so to speak, and can make associations accordingly. What functions as a possible figure of identification for one person causes another to distance themselves significantly.
Concrete connections and free-flowing associations alternate in Matthias Gálvez's images. Men and women, both in individual portraits and in multi-figure compositions, describe phenomena of the present day, embedded in biblical, art-historical or general social issues.
Despite the contexts depicted, the subjects appear seemingly unrelated. Matthias Gálvez uses colour to mediate and, as it were, establish relationships. This is evident, among other things, in the painting “Fräulein Else”. A pink area on the globe – symbolising the (unattainable) world – can be found behind the portrait, whose theme is the disappearance of the will to live. A pink area, also on the globe, can be found in the fabric of the armchair on which Fräulein Else is seated. Further colour relationships that address the thematic relationships or non-relationships can be discovered.
The surroundings of the subjects are often poorly defined, as they are designed with abstract elements. Interior – interior space can also be defined here as inner life, thus forming an analogy to the content of the images.
The people depicted are in a state that varies from composition to composition; a closeness arises in contact with the viewers, who interact with the subjects with their thoughts and emotions. Thus, the viewers are the essential factor ... something new arises in every communication between a viewer and the picture. Or, to put it another way, a different resonance arises in each case.