Untitled

ANDRÉ BUTZER (B. 1973)

Untitled

signed twice and dated twice 'A. Butzer '21 A. Butzer '21' (on the reverse)

oil on canvas

54 x 64 inches (137.2 x 162.6 cm)

Painted in 2021.

PROVENANCE:

Gió Marconi, Milan

Private collection, New York, 2021

LITERATURE:

Gió Marconi, André Butzer: January 18 – February 23, 2018 / June 10 – July 23, 2021, exh. cat., Milan, 2021 (illustrated, p. 27).

The work is registered for inclusion in the catalogue raisonné of André Butzer.

NOTES:

Born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1973, André Butzer is a seminal figure in contemporary painting, known for fusing the emotional depth of German Expressionism with the vibrant imagery of mass culture. Bridging the 20th and 21st centuries, Butzer’s work confronts themes of life, death, consumption, and mass entertainment through a deeply personal and idiosyncratic lens. Drawing inspiration from artists like Paul Cézanne, Edvard Munch and Henri Matisse, as well as cultural figures such as Walt Disney and Henry Ford, he has developed a distinctive style he terms “Science-Fiction-Expressionism.” Over decades, Butzer has built an elaborate fictional universe populated by recurring characters recognizable by their comic-book eyes, bloated and misshapen heads, outsized hands, and stick-like legs.

In Untitled, Butzer brings forward his longstanding pictorial universe that was shaped early on by his concept of Nasaheim, an imagined realm comprising two very different aspects, one in the furthest reaches of outer space, and the other at home. Nasaheim is an idealized space that integrates the extremes of the human experience like joy, terror and personal history, without exclusion, and serves as a philosophical foundation for Butzer’s art. In Untitled four figures emerge from a luminous pink backdrop, echoing the cast of characters Butzer first developed around 1999-2000. Among them are archetypes such as the Friedens-Siemens and the Wanderer, originally termed the Man of Shame–a haunting figure rooted in Edvard Munch’s Scream and dark historical imagery drawn from a popular album cover by the Melvins. The crude, exaggerated forms, with their wide eyes and simplified anatomy reflect an existential struggle, embodying both the survival instinct and the destructive capacities of humanity. In Untitled, the vibrant palette and cartoon-like rendering belie a deep confrontation with human nature, creating a work that is both playful and charged with historical and emotional weight.