Volker Hermes: Hidden Portraits

Volker Hermes: Hidden Portraits gathers the essential works by one of the most beguiling artists of the present era, in a very modern reinterpretation of historical privilege.

Using only elements of the original paintings, Volker Hermes masterfully alters photos of historical portraits to mask the faces of their subjects. With each figure concealed under their own ceremonial attire, these one-time elites quickly lose their individuality in a plume of decorations and accessories.

In this official collection, Hermes delivers his wry commentary on wealth, fame and social status with taut imagery, intense focus and a suitably shrewd sense of humour. His immaculately reproduced artworks are accompanied by the thoughts of German art historian Till-Holger Borchert and Professor Francesca Raimondi of Berlin’s Institute for Philosophy, as well as the artist himself.

A must-have revision of classical portraiture from a celebrated digital creator.

"Hermes’s meticulously described collages pay homage to their sources while gently ribbing the social pretensions and ambitions of the courtly classes." – Christopher Alessandrini, metmuseum.org

Volker Hermes, born in 1972, draws and paints powerfully and directly, with perseverance and a lot of humour. His pictures and drawings are always integrated into comprehensive projects, within which Hermes gets to the core of his subject in an almost scientific way. These projects include a multi-year preoccupation with the subject of portraiture and, more recently, with the subject of historical battle painting and seascapes. His works are always an expression of an intensive engagement with art. Thus his portraits do not serve the honour of their protagonists and the sea battles do not serve the glory of old seafaring. Hermes’ paintings bring fame and glory to art itself. His figures exercise the possibilities of painterly representation with impressive virtuosity. And there are no limits to these. Hermes combines linear conception with painterly gestures and watercolour-like painting with hard Edding drawing and shows himself to be a master in both fields. For him, painterly solutions must be derived from a fundamental (artistic) principle with an inner logic: “If the viewer feels this even subconsciously, that's enough for me. You don't have to know everything, but you can feel a lot.” Despite all the analysis, Hermes’ paintings should above all be enjoyed.