Alexander Grimm
Vienna
Alexander Grimm, a graphically seasoned artist, harnesses oil on self-crafted wooden canvases, drawing from his graphic design expertise.
MessageAlexander Grimm was born in Graz, Austria, in March 1975. His creative journey began in his early childhood with a simple, naive idea: he wanted to earn a living by drawing.
Without expressing this idea in concrete terms and without knowing which profession might be suitable for it, he was accepted at the Ortweinschule in Graz in 1989, on the advice of his then art teacher. Alongside his graphic design training, he took painting lessons for five years. However, at that time, the world of graphic design impresses him more and not yet take painting so seriously.
After working as a graphic designer in both employed and freelance roles for 20 years, he rediscovered his lernt painting skills around 2015 and was hooked.
He decided to take the plunge into art and started painting alongside his professional work as a graphic designer. Although he was confronted with many question marks and doubts, he persevered and continued to develop his painting.
Between 2017 and 2019, he attended painting classes led by Mark van Yetter and Svenja Deininger at the International Summer Academy Salzburg, developing his skills as a painter in the process.
In autumn 2023, he was invited by Gruppe77 to show his first solo exhibition at PLÜ23 in Graz. The step into the public eye was taken. Since then, he has participated in further Gruppe77 group exhibitions. He has also achieved commercial success, with his work »Monument Charger« being included in the collection of the Neue Galerie in Graz by Land Steiermark.
His aim is to develop technically and conceptually as a painter and eventually become a full-time artist. Even more importantly, he wants to integrate painting permanently into his life.
Statement
I create my work as a visual answer to all the questions that concern me. These are often not positive and increasingly generate critical-ironic images in my mind. I often think that painting is a temporary escape into a better world and a kind of self-therapy for me. My goal is to translate heavy thinking into appealing forms and find joy in doing so. It seems that my beginnings in graphic design are now leading to painting and are thus the next step on my path as a creative person.
My art combines two worlds: the digital world of creation and the analog world of action. I bring my ideas to life by first drawing on my skills as a graphic designer to create three-dimensional digital scenes, which I then execute by hand with a brush on wooden bodies. My favorite medium is oil painting. Works by historical painters such as John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, and Joaquín Sorolla, as well as contemporary artists such as Michaël Borremans and Neo Rauch, inspire me both technically and conceptually. My goal is to transform clever, bold, and critical-ironic ideas into great works of art through skillful, masterful painting.
Over the last two decades, a more reflective perception of the world has emerged. I sense a growing destruction, both in society and in nature. These themes are therefore a fixed foundation for my paintings. Not necessarily in terms of the visual form of expression, but rather in the idea behind them. I want all my graphic experiences to flow into and support my vision as a painter. I don‘t want to lose my analogue approach and the tools for that—painting helps me to do so.
© alexgrimm
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