In his lucid work “to painting”, Jonathan Kraus takes up the painting “The Death of Marat” by Jacques-Louis David and subtly criticizes the activism and ideologies of his and our time. The short revolutionary, scientist and doctor Jean-Paul Marat suffered from a skin disease and often sat in the bathtub for relief. Marat's demagogic newspaper "Ami du Peuple" was a mouthpiece for the sans-culottes, called for the execution of "enemies of the people" and triggered the September massacre. On July 13, 1793, he was stabbed to death by activist Charlotte Corday. Jacques-Louis David (1748 - 1825), a French classicist history painter, worked first for the king, then as a revolutionary painter and then for Napoleon. David took an active part in the revolution and voted for the king's execution. David painted his picture “The Death of Marat” immediately after the assassination attempt and dedicated it to the man who was stabbed to death. Jonathan Kraus (* 1989, studied in Dresden with Ralf Kerbach and in Leipzig with Annette Schröter) contrasts David's politicizing dedication with his own version. The lettering “to painting. kraus ”is a statement against political activism and for the essentials - in this case painting. Kraus brings himself into the image of the activist David and positions himself as the observer of the dead activist Marat. His features reflect thoughtfulness and distance. Technically, Kraus' painting can compete with David's and is much more reflective in terms of content. 

Nguyen Xuan Huy's current work is entitled "Excavation", "Ausgrabung". The eye is the symbol of perception.
Once buried, we can no longer differentiate between good and bad. Now we try to expose it again ... a Sisyphean work.Ngyuen Xuan Huy came to Germany from Vietnam at the age of 17, studied at the Halle Castle and completed a master's degree at the same art college. Scholarships have taken him to France and the United States. Today he lives in Berlin, inspired by classic European painting from the Renaissance to the Fauves, Nguyen develops image programs with high thematic density and social explosiveness. In the first years after completing his studies, Nguyen was still devoted to Vietnamese topics, but has been setting for about a decade he is critical of the state of Europe. His works are often metaphorical and take up iconic compositions: Géricault's "Le Radeau de la Méduse", Matisse's "La Danse", Goya's "Caprichos" and "Desastres", Michelangelo's ceiling paintings in the Sistine Chapel. Nguyen's paintings are constructive, vital, perfectly staged and virtuously set provocation. They differ in form and content from almost everything we know from current art.
They challenge their viewers emotionally and intellectually.
Next exhibition: Nguyen Xuan Huy, The Mirror, Galerie Rothamel Frankfurt, September 4 to October 17, 2020