The painting and drawing of Joachim Marx

Marx believes that there are still timeless human themes that ask for a contemporary image. He paints floating, falling or suspended figures in an undefined space. These are figures that are thrown into the painting just as human beings are thrown into existence, trying to comprehend their being here, trying to remember their true nature. One might say Marx paints the same picture again and again, watching it come out differently each time. The formal aspects are what interest him: the grounds, the material qualities of the paints and their application, surfaces, textures. Often the surfaces don't seem painted. It seems they somehow happened. They suggest a space and in this space Marx places the figures. Thus the technique inspires the subject matter and the subject matter inspires the technique. And it is repetition that reveals an observing and meditative approach to painting.

Joachim Marx, born 1960 in Germany, received his MFA in 1991 from the New York Academy of Art. He has exhibited in numerous shows in commercial galleries, public spaces and museums in the US as well as in Germany. He also designed church windows. German public television featured him in a 30 min documentary called "Marx and the Culture of Contradiction" in 1993. He lives in New York City.