Introduction
To view the world through the eyes of an artist who perceives space not merely as a surface but as a stage, and to better understand his painting, I would like to convey to you in several parts the most important aspects and approaches for contemplation.
These include the fundamental question that occupies the artist; his education and profession, his relationship to space, his role models and sources of inspiration, as well as his already unmistakable signature in the style of "figurative abstraction," which characterizes his "painterly output from the input of the stage."
As we look around in this space, we encounter a painting that breathes a particular tension and dramaturgy. This is no coincidence. Daniel Sommergruber is a wanderer between worlds.
He is both a passionate set designer and a visual artist. He learned the construction of space at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Erich Wonder and Anna Viebrock – and refined his painterly expression in the master class of Markus Lüpertz. His painting style thus operates between construction and gesture.
Daniel's work is characterized by a specific connection between technical precision and expressive freedom, significantly influenced by his teachers:
Through his studies with Erich Wonder and Anna Viebrock, he understands the pictorial space as a stage. Figures are often placed in architectural "interspaces" or clearly defined geometric structures, creating an atmosphere of isolation or expectation.
From Lüpertz, he adopts a powerful, often impasto application of color and engages with the figurative. Daniel's style is post-expressionist, breaking the classical motif (the human figure) through a modern, often deconstructed line.
This symbiosis is the heart of his work. He does not simply paint figures or landscapes; he stages them. His starting point is always the human being and their relationship to the surrounding space.
In his current work, Daniel Sommergruber demonstrates how contemporary the exploration of space and figure remains. He uses space as a stage and transcends the boundaries between reality and staging. Thus, he transforms the canvas into a space where human existence is not only depicted but is renegotiated under the spotlight of painting.
The fundamental question the artist poses is: How does a figure change the space? His answer lies in the understanding that a figure, through its mere presence and aura, breaks the statics of a space. In theater, the actor changes the set; in painting, it is the figure that makes the space "readable."
The foundation: The stage as pictorial space. Daniel Sommergruber is an artist who perceives space not as a static surface, but as a dynamic stage. His paintings are often structured like "psychological peepholes": Figures are precisely placed in geometric or atmospheric spaces that generate a palpable narrative tension. For Daniel Sommergruber, space is not a background but an active participant. His subjects often stem from "visual finds" from photographs, photo books, plays, magazines, or newspapers, which he transforms pictorially and places in new, fictional contexts.
The painterly style of figurative abstraction through corporeality and space. Regarding materiality, Sommergruber's style is a symbiosis of constructive rigor and expressive gesture. Similar to stage design, texture plays a central role. He combines various techniques to create layers that provide the painting with a physical tangibility. Daniel often works with mixed techniques that combine oil paint, glue paint, acrylic, and ink. This layering creates a visceral depth reminiscent of the materiality of theatrical props.
The perception of space from the peephole to the canvas. We, as viewers, perceive the space in Sommergruber's paintings not as an empty surface, but as a charged field where an action could begin at any moment. The respective body semantics speak to us instead of facial expressions, due to the dissolution of the face. It is about deciphering the human beyond facial expressions.
The readability of the pose is an emotional source: Emotions are not transported through the face – as it is rendered unspecific and blurred. Instead, emotions are expressed through body postures and positions in space. A bent back, a kneeling figure, a diagonal inclination, a relaxed sitting pose, or positioning within the image angle tell the story of isolation, expectation, or melancholy. The interesting aspect for Daniel is the pictorial experiment: How far can the dissolution go before the presence fades?
Thus, emotions are read through physical placement in space – a direct parallel "in the painterly output to the input of the stage," as I would phrase it.
Regarding the artistic influences. The constructed silence. A significant source of inspiration for Daniel's conception of space is the American photographer Gregory Crewdson, who presents a profound, almost hyper-real light direction in his works. Crewdson is known for his film-like stagings, where he illuminates countless layers simultaneously. Daniel translates this principle onto the canvas. Like Crewdson, Daniel creates images that are technically complex and conceptually thought-out but radiate an "uncanny" silence. The space becomes a narrative actor for both artists, gaining depth through precisely placed visual layers.
Contemporary comparisons. The lineage of inspiration. To locate Daniel Sommergruber's position in the current art landscape, parallels can be drawn to other artists who also work at the intersection of space, figure, and narrative:
Sommergruber links the approaches of his great predecessors into something entirely new:
Francis Bacon: He adopts the idea of isolating the figure in space from him, but forgoes Bacon's existential horror. Bacon's works are an eruption; Sommergruber's paintings are a composition. In Daniel Sommergruber's work, the dissolution of the face is not a scream but a painterly retreat. A deformation in favor of body language.
Lucian Freud: He shares Freud's love for fleshy materiality, but Sommergruber uses color to integrate the figure into the space, emphasizing it (sometimes in striking, poppy, or neon colors) rather than dissecting it as a pure object. He takes on the tactile quality of the color layers. And he places the body in a staged context rather than isolating it in a barren studio.
Neo Rauch: The dreamlike arrangement of figures recalls Rauch, but Sommergruber remains more focused on the immediate spatial effect.
Maria Lassnig: Lassnig's "body awareness" is reflected in the way Sommergruber makes emotions physically palpable through body semantics, even when the face remains vague and indistinct.
No drama in Daniel Sommergruber's dramaturgy of motifs. While great influences like Francis Bacon push existential drama to the limit, Daniel Sommergruber's dramaturgy of motifs is characterized by a remarkable absence of explicit drama. These are rather places of scenic inquiry and quiet drama. It is an invitation to observe without the burden of a predetermined tragedy.
Daniel chooses the moment of pause. His figures do not act; they simply are. It is a dramaturgy of presence, not action. A dramaturgy without drama. The motifs reflect the anti-drama: The scenes appear like a freeze-frame of a staging, where the climax has either just passed or is yet to come. This emptiness creates a peculiar tension that does without pathos.
The "output" of the stage: Painting as condensation. For Sommergruber, the stage is the place of fleeting movement and temporary space. Painting, on the other hand, is the place where this "input" – such as the visual impact of a staging, the light mood, or the spatial arrangement – is fixed. He draws on an archive of theatrical moments and photographs that he transforms pictorially.
While Daniel builds spaces on stage where people can move physically, he uses the canvas to freeze the essence of that movement. From 3D to 2D. Painting for Daniel Sommergruber is the output of the input of the stage, and this observation strikes at the core of his artistic identity: His painting is not a process separate from theater, but the consistent distillation of his scenographic work.
Conclusion
Daniel Sommergruber uses "figurative spatiality" to draw us as viewers into a world that, despite its pictorial openness, possesses enormous psychological density.
It is a painting that allows us to look behind the curtain of mere depiction and think through the story behind it ourselves. The artist does not provide us with an interpretation. He shows us that the space in which we move is always also a mirror of our inner condition.
Press Statement: Daniel Sommergruber is a director of the canvas. He utilizes the "input of the stage", the light complexity of a Crewdson, and the material weight of a Freud to create spaces where the human figure – even without a recognizable face – becomes the strongest narrative force. His painting is a plea for the perception of aura, a presence that arises when a body claims the space for itself. This is his personal, unmistakable painterly output. Daniel Sommergruber's painting is an invitation to read the human experience anew. When the face fades, the body begins to speak. The space becomes the stage for a silent dramaturgy, where every posture is a world unto itself.