NEWS
DELIKATESSEN - Museum Brot und Kunst Ulm
Opening 29.08.2025 Dauer: 30.08. bis 28.09.2025
"Bridging Cultures" Kühlhaus Berlin
02. bis 05. Oktober 2025
Round table 5 Kunstauktion Berlin 2025
am 21. November im Ludwig -Erhard-Haus Berlin
Unmasking the Beautifully Absurd
In a world that increasingly filters discomfort through polished surfaces and curated illusions, Juliane Hundertmark brings a raw, unfiltered perspective through her singular blend of visual storytelling. Based in Berlin since 2005, the German painter has forged a reputation for her eccentrically layered work, where grotesque humor and social critique coexist in unsetting harmony. Her practice straddles the line between comic absurdity and tragic reflection, exposing the paradoxes that shape modern existence. Hundertmark doesn`t shy away from confronting societal trauma, instead painting through it, often with a theatrical, burlesque twist that draws the viewer into her sardonic yet deeply human observations.
Born in Mainz in 1971 and raised in a small village surrounded by forests, pets, and rural stillness, Hundertmark`s formative years imbued her with a sensitivity to the natural world that subtly permeates her work. Animals, both real and symbolic, frequently appear in her paintings-not as passive subjects but as reflections of human folly and the skewed dynamics between species. Her formal training spans multiple disciplines: painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nürnberg, stage performance at a theatre school, and ceramic design. Hundertmark`s art brims with commentary on human behavior, particularly how the relentless pursuit of status, beauty, and wealth can lead to absurdity and alienation.
Satire Painted in Oil and Collage
Hundertmark`s visual language resists easy categorization. Her paintings unfold as chaotic tableaux that combine traditional oil techniques with whimsical elements reminiscent of comics and expressionism. By weaving in surreal fragments and collage pieces from old cooking, animal, and nature books, she anchors her fantastical figures in recognizably domestic textures. This deliberate juxtaposition creates a dissonance that both unsettles and invites interpretation.
A recurring theme in her work is the absurdity of modern ambitions. Through exaggerated characters and twisted narratives, Hundertmark satirizes society`s obsession with superficial success. Her grotesque figures might appear clownish or monstrous at first glance, but they always carry a kernel of truth, reflecting the quiet despair and contradictions of everyday life.
Text by Bianca Kann from aatonau Magazin
Showroom Installation 2023/24
Showroom Installation in Berlin, Linienstraße 111, 10115 Berlin Mitte
2016 - 2019 selection
Es entstehen Szenen aus dem kollektiven Bewusstsein des Menschen: Klassenzimmer; Kirchenpredigt; Mahlzeit; Gruppenbild.
Kuriose Persönlichkeiten, halb Mensch, halb Tier bevölkern den Bildraum.
Die dargestellten Figuren wirken wie Protagonisten auf einer Bühne, es findet eine Szene statt, ein Rollenspiel mit einer Gruppendynamik.
In diesem absurden Universum finden lächerliche Gruppenrituale statt und wir begegnen dem Grauen auch manchmal auf der Ebene der Kunst. Die Konstruktion und Dekonstruktion von Emotion ist die Aufgabe.
Hysterie - permanenter Seinzustand - der einzig adäquate Weg, in einer sich an der Schwelle zur Apokalypse befindlichen Welt.
In my work I incorporate a sharp social critique, which focuses on social and cultural traumas rather than on private issues.
This is the dark site of the consumer society we all live in.
To be exeedingly comical, burlesque, dark humor has the subversive edge. I like grotesque aesthetics.
My works are very close to filmstills, like modern theater and when I`m painting I slip into a role to imagine and create the strange creatures I paint in my work.
Sometimes the same idea pops up more less unchanged year after year. This repetition and recycling reflects the open attitude to the works - they are in a state of transformation.
Every painting deals with several of the themes I process throughout my work. There is the anthropomorphism of in my work, but also thoughts, feelings and ideas from outside the world.
In my paintings I have Comic characters and stereotypes which enable me to assume a persona - a role while painting.
The titles of my pictures are elements of the painting, the words function as a visual element, not as a caption. Sometimes my works are zoomed on destructive art, where creating and destroying coincide.
Pool and Nature paintings: a dark paradise, our inexhaustible desire for seeking pleasure, jungle ( another world with changing our rules ).
- Road trip scenes, feeling the adventure of danger
- American diner paintings, scenes with diners, strange scenes with eating people and creatures
- Group of people paintings, Theater Scenes, the dark and funny side of life.
- Small works on paper, Sketchbook for my big works.
I´m inspired by the following artists. Francis Bacon, Paul Mc Carthy, Georg Grosz, Cindy Sherman but I`m not very ambitious in art history, so I often work very free without having some imaginations from other artists in my mind. I think that is the reason of the independence of my paintings. In my education, during my studies I learned a lot about Georg Grosz. I try to make satire paintings for the present time, we live in today.
