Armin Boehm Born 1972 in Aachen, Germany

Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

In his works on canvas, he uses the technique of collage to conjoin fragments of paint, fabric, paper or metal, substances from which his subjects emerge, almost sculpturally materialising in concrete space.

Group scene or still life, Boehm’s works travel through a world where Max Beckmann’s claustrophobic depth of field sets the scene for Otto Dix’s unique brand of the grotesque, where urban bohemianism meets the shrill, homosexual, decadent and esoteric, where the cult of the body blends into hybrid, double-faced gender neutrality. The result is psychedelic in the most contemporary sense of the word: deeply emotional, and ultimately a revelation of the energy that pulses between people, objects, and their surroundings.

Boehm’s picture worlds reveal specific incidents that seem timeless in their quintessence. Still lives, private cocktail parties, scenes on the beach or in public bars stand beside personal moments of seclusion. All are informed by an atmospheric intensity evoking both intimacy and alienation. The vocabulary of modernism is present in both form and content. Boehm adopts the approach of the German Expressionists and their avantgarde literary tendencies.

In his seminal series "Riots", based on unrests in the public space that have been imprinted in the collective mind, dark cityscapes reveal a potential for violence below the colored layers and the city's architecture where even the small lights cannot be determined, neither as remaining fire nor as its source.

Armin Boehm studied at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf with Konrad Klapheck and Jörg Immendorff. His work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Kunstverein Braunschweig and in several group exhibitions such as at the Me Collectors Room, Stiftung Olbricht, Berlin (2018); Städel Museum, Frankfurt (2012); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2011) and K21 - Kunstsammlung NRW, Düsseldorf (2010).

In 2018 a comprehensive monograph showcasing works created between 2010 and 2018 was published by Distanz Verlag. The catalogue is rounded out by an essay by Jonathan Griffin and a conversation between the artist and curator Peter Gorschlüter.