Tilmann Zahn

Tilmann Zahn's filigree works made of torn paper move between painting and object. He explores the themes of fragility and stability and captures the fleeting state of constant change. At the beginning, he draws a fine line on the paper with pencil and graphite - mental and emotional intuitions between suggestion and concreteness that cannot be deciphered. The paper is both an image carrier and an image itself, as the process of tearing out individual pieces creates a structure that looks more like a sculpture than a painted picture. The torn edges of the paper can be varied and can be designed in such a way that they imitate the mixture of organic and non-organic material that occurs, for example, when an iron construction in the process of decomposition is covered by soil. At the end of the process, diluted oil paint - often reminiscent of rust or oxidised copper - penetrates the paper, creating an effect of depth that provides space for the secrets of the places and conditions that inspire the artist. The oil papers often oscillate between fragility, organic liveliness and seemingly metallic, constructive architectonics. The colour, the texture of the surface, the spatial effect and the complexity of the multi-layered constructions are carriers of meaning in a language that deliberately avoids anything too unambiguous. The presentation, almost floating at a distance from the wall, not only emphasises the object-like nature of the works, but with its shadows also refers to the fleetingness and changeability inherent in every form, every creation and every being.

Tilmann Zahn's works thematise the constant flow of decay and emergence as a transformation process of the living, which knows no end and constantly produces something new.
The artist was born in Osnabrück in 1966, grew up in Düsseldorf and has lived in Basel since 1990.

Born 1966 in Osnabruck, raised in Dusseldorf. Lives in Basel since 1990.


Public collections

Kunstsammlung Hoffmann-la Roche, Basel, CH
Kunstsammlung der Arbeiterkammer Oberösterreich, Linz, A
Kunstsammlung der Stadt Wil, CH

Solo exhibitions

2022Kunstverein Bad Nauheim
Raum und Illusion (with Georg Küttinger), Kunstverein Radolfzell e.V., Villa Bosch
2019

Galerie Maurer, Frankfurt/Main
Kunstverein Speyer
Kunstverein Eislingen

2018

Kunstverein Damianstor, Bruchsal

2017

Galerie Q, Kulturforum Schorndorf

2016

Kunstkultur Königsfeld
Kunsthalle Wil, CH

2015

Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, A

2014

Chelsea Galerie Laufen

2013

Galerie Wichtendahl, Berlin

2009

Galerie Roland Aphold, Basel, CH
Papiermachermuseum Steyrermühl, A

2008

Galerie Wichtendahl, Berlin

2007

Galerie Roland Aphold, Basel, CH


Gruppenausstellungen

2019

Kunstverein Kontur im Kunstbezirk, Stuttgart

2018

Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, A
Papiermachermuseum Steyrermühl, A

2017

Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg

2016

Städtische Galerie Villa Streccius, Landau
Kunsttage Winningen
Kunstverein Speyer

2015

Galerie Wichtendahl, Berlin
Landesgalerie Burgenland, Eisenstadt

2014

Horst-Janssen-Museum, Oldenburg

2013

Koppelschleuse Meppen

2012

Kunstverein Marburg
Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, A

2008

Galerie Lorch + Seidel contemporary, Berlin
Berlinische Galerie, Berlin