Malte Hagen: Subtle Masterworks

In large-format paintings, the painter Malte Hagen (born 1967, lives in Berlin) combines everyday objects, figures, and spaces into ambivalent scenarios that are both strangely alluring and repulsive. With painted light effects, whitish surfaces, and contrasts of glare and muted tones he propels the depicted subjects into a mythical distance. Yet despite allusions to mythology and art history, Hagen's paintings are clearly relevant today. Bulky waste and plastic junk are on equal footing with golden helmets and classical poses. The artist "oscillates between sweetness and kitsch" (Christoph Tannert). What might appear ironic at first glance remains suggestive and paradoxical. This richly illustrated book provides an overview of Hagen's subtly provocative paintings of the past ten years.

Malte Hagen (born 1967 in Dü ren, Germany) is a Berlin-based painter and illustrator. He studied Visual Communication at the FH Aachen and has worked as a freelance artist since 1992. His large-format paintings often transform found everyday objects and domestic detritus into haunting, ambiguous scenes that blend mythological references with contemporary life. Nicola Petek is a Berlin-based curator, writer and art advisor. She co-founded the gallery and print-art platform Friday Bird and works as an independent curator for exhibitions and publications. Christoph Tannert (born 1955, Leipzig) is a German curator, art critic, and author. Since 2000, he has served as director of Kü nstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, focusing on contemporary art and critical practices, particularly from East Germany and post-1980s subcultures.