Matthias Mansen

Matthias Mansen (b. 1958) is one of contemporary art's most influential woodcut artists. With his monumental color woodcuts, which consist of several printing blocks and are often printed in overlays and ever-new states, Mansen has significantly advanced the art of woodcutting and brought new opportunities for expression to the technique. The major retrospective at the Gottorf Castle Museum of Art and Cultural History and the Kunstmuseum Singen shows works spanning four decades. The centerpiece is Mansens most recent series Triest oder die Götter (Trieste or The Gods), in which Mansen focuses on the motif of bathers, a subject matter that has recurred throughout art history. For him, their poses and gestures open up a world of associations with ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, which he explores in his works.