Bar at the Hotel Sacher Vienna Painting

Peter Vahlefeld's visceral artworks combine a rigorous, process-based practice, continually rethinking the possibilities of painting. He approaches his canvases with the idea of building rather than painting them. The act and idea of »building« encapsulates his multi-tiered approach to each artwork that unfold in an intricate, unpredictable interaction of layers and excess—a constant juggling of paint, prints, fabrics, and effect to enhance the capacity of the surface. He assembles, layers, molds, adds to or takes away, thereby giving way to the objectness of the work. Vahlefeld’s primary consideration is not a rigorous plan or strategy for a picture, but, instead, a reflection of his own formal and sensory response to the material as he builds each composition. By allowing himself the freedom and play to open up his process this way, he is able to let the paintings evolve without restriction. Using references to a broad array of sources, including art history, literature, and pop culture, he creates paintings that alternate between flat experience and dimensionality. Perfectly poised between European and American traditions (Art Informel, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art), the paintings draw their actuality from the collision between the visual codes of mass media and the subjective traces of painterly expression and combine complexity into a visual richness that is neither figurative nor abstract. Peter Vahlefeld has participated in a variety of solo exhibitions, art fairs, and venues such as Neumeister Fine Art Auctioneers (Munich), Sotheby's (Vienna), Fritz Hansen (Denmark), Allianz Art Collection and Poliform Interior Design. His work can be found in private and corporate collections throughout Europe, the United States and East Asia. Peter Vahlefeld was featured on the German television channel ZDF, and currently works in Berlin and Munich.