United in Colors

With the advent of modernism, a remarkable shift begins: color emancipates itself. It detaches from the object and asserts itself as an independent expressive force. With the Impressionists, color gains autonomy—its effect becomes more important than form. Reality begins to blur in favor of color. The Expressionists take this further, using color emotionally and symbolically. The sensual potential of individual hues and their contrasts becomes central to composition, and color increasingly acts as an autonomous agent on the canvas.

The exhibition United in Colors takes the significance of color as its starting point, showcasing a selection of artistic personalities to explore the diversity of the color spectrum and its application. Color plays a central role in all the works and moves to the forefront even in figurative compositions.
This is evident in the paintings of Duncan Wylie, a Zimbabwean artist whose gestural brushwork and layered use of color define his work. Many artists combine various techniques, such as Rebecca Bernau, based in Munich. Her paintings compellingly merge figurative motifs with the power of color. She works with opaque and transparent fields, gestural traces, and a mix of printmaking, acrylic, and oil layers to achieve the depth and texture characteristic of her oeuvre.
Bold colors are the hallmark of French artist Gaël Davrinche, who strives to balance color and texture. After an initial painting process, he allows the work to dry before intervening again—a method he refers to as “intervening.” In contrast, Sebastian Gumpinger focuses on the material’s surface structure and uses color deliberately to enhance the spatial impact of his line-dominated drawings, paintings, and objects.Paris-based Valentin van der Meulen employs color in a reduced and sometimes playful manner. His medium is charcoal drawing, through which he masterfully explores the nuances of black, gray, and white. In his recent works, he zooms in on facial details such as eyes and lips, reflecting on media representation and perception—sometimes overlaying these with colored dots.
South African artist Jake Michael Singer interweaves color with space, sculpture, and technology. His works fuse organic growth with precise construction, with color remaining a central carrier of expressive power.
Also noteworthy are the glass objects by Robert Comploj. Born in Innsbruck and working in Vienna, he has long successfully bridged design and art. In his sculptural pieces, color becomes physical—shaped rather than applied. Light penetrates the material, inscribing color impressively into the surrounding space.
United in Colors is a compelling dialogue between diverse artistic approaches that recognize color as an autonomous force—a celebration of color as a universal, immediate, and joyful language.