Renowned for his wild brushwork and idiosyncratic style, Albert Oehlen redefined painting at a critical moment in its history. A contemporary of Martin Kippenberger, he rose to prominence in 1980s Cologne as part the loose avant-garde cohort known as the ‘Junge Wilde’ (‘Young Wild Ones’). Raucous and irreverent, these artists championed an approach that they described as ‘bad painting’. Fusing genres, colours, media and techniques with riotous abandon, Oehlen’s works rail against aesthetic convention, opening up new possibilities for art-making in the process. Known for his thrilling abstract works, as well as his Grey Paintings, Computer Paintings and other major series, he proved deeply influential to a younger generation of artists. His work continues to push boundaries today.
Born in Krefeld, Germany in 1954, Oehlen studied under Sigmar Polke at the Hochschule für Bildende Kunst, Hamburg. He has been the subject of major exhibitions at the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, the Whitechapel Gallery, London and the Kunsthalle Zürich, with more recent shows at the Guggenheim Bilbao, the Serpentine Gallery, London and the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf.
