Magnus Plessen was born in 1967 in Hamburg, Germany and lives and works in Berlin, Germany. He is a Professor of Painting at the Saatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe since 2019. His works are characterized by a meticulous construction of the image and a focus on the painterly process. The artist’s definitive color palette is populated by muted yellows and greys with the occasional bright pop of color appearing like a sliver of hope.

In his latest body of work, Plessen remains focused on the human figure, but shifts his stare from the face back to the hands, and the things they hold. He makes use of charcoal to add depth and darkness, both visual and symbolic, while the motif of the cigarette isn’t just reoccurring, but central in his mythmaking. Across these 8 unique drawings, balloons, symbols of childhood innocence and fragile moments, serve as a beacon of joy and hope.

Magnus Plessen has had numerous solo exhibitions, including: The Rose Art Museum, Massachusetts; Art Institute of Chicago; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, K21, Düsseldorf and MoMA PS1, New York, as well as numerous solo gallery exhibitions, including: White Cube, London and Hong Kong, Gladstone Gallery, New York, Konrad Fischer, Düsseldorf and Berlin and Mai 36, Zurich. Plessen has participated in various international group exhibitions, including: the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Museu Serralves, Porto, Goetz Collection, Munich and was represented at the 50th Venice Biennale (2003). Works by Magnus Plessen have been placed in important international collections, incl. Centre

Pompidou, Paris; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Kunstsammlung NRW K20/K21; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis and the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.