BERLIN.- Cain Schulte Gallery Berlin presents the exhibition ‘American Beauty’ with paintings by Berlin artist Max Diel. The show will open with a reception on the 19th of February at 7pm and is on view until the 20th of March, 2010.

Figurative scenes from the daily grind dominate the paintings of Max Diel. He finds his motives on ongoing excursions through cities, small and big, and various landscapes. The exhibition American Beauty shows works capturing memories and impressions of a 6 week journey to the US, visiting Washington, D.C., New York and San Francisco. The paintings reflect an intensive observation and examination of everyday life in America, and recollect the dramatic light in all scenes - a consequence of the geographic areas. Noticeable in this new body of works, is the use of color -- a much brighter palette, as well as a sense of airiness, let the paintings appear less morbid and less cumbersome.

After an extensive study of the fundamentals of abstract painting, Diel turned to the figurative. Sketches, photos and postcards are often starting points for ideas. The placement of ‘what’ and the ‘how’ is essential, but also his own mindset towards painting itself, which has to undergo again and again a critical questioning to cater to the visualization of the ‘concretion of life’. Just as life consists of always returning moments in time, for Diel, a single painting is the pivotal point of his work. Therefore his paintings appear to have multiple perspectives and aspects – elements from the outside world are borrowed for the image source and are, bundled with inner blueprints of memories and experiences, transformed into a whole. Autobiographical aspects sidle into his works - for Diel, a welcoming reason to check the authenticity of a painting.

Diel’s works grapple with ‘Bay Area’ painting, which established itself in the 50s in and around San Francisco, and continues to be influential with representatives like Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud, Christopher Brown, Elmer Bischoff or Paul Wonner.

Max Diel was born in 1971 in Freiburg, Germany, studied at Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and graduated as ‚Student of Excellence’ (Meisterschüler) from the UdK in Berlin.