My Friend, The Unknown Artist

Nikolas Müller presents a selection of his watercolours, which he has been producing for the past ten years as a counterpoint to his digital 3D works and videos. In doing so, he draws on his own life experiences and focuses thematically on issues such as fragile masculinity, mental health, mechanisms of exclusion, disability and male emotionality.

In his vibrantly coloured watercolours, fairy-tale-like, fantastical figures appear in scenes that are by turns humorous and dramatic. Sunsets, anglers, knights and dragons are among the recurring motifs, often accompanied by a title or sticker that offers commentary or expands on the imagery. The works contain references to current events, yet they are also accessible to the public through a generally comprehensible readability. Technically, Müller explores the properties of the medium through the interplay between colour qualities and paper, provoking coincidences and shaping the painting process as a dialogue between the intended and the emerging.

He expands on this dialogue at the artothek by examining the role of authorship in the visual arts. Taking as his starting point a painting of St Francis in ecstasy, to which there are biographical references. What consequences does this have for him as an artist, and what does it mean for the art-loving public and the art market? How original is artistic creation within an art-historical context, and which states of mind are helpful or necessary for it?