Collection: Marc Jung

"Figurative post-abstract expressionism is what the artist Marc Jung says he brings to the canvas with spray cans, oil and varnish. Neither purely figurative nor non-representational, neither graffiti nor classical painting: Marc Jung's art resists simple pigeonholing. Dirty work with a strong effect, such as dripping ¹, is opposed to the accuracy of forms that sometimes find their way onto the canvas with stencils, but more often by hand. Marc Jung's works fluctuate between the poles of chaos and order and "may be a bit like me," says the artist, whose exuberantly extroverted presence often belies his structured way of working. His works are created layer by layer. The lowest layers are often no longer visible at all or only appear in spots as colored shadows; they are elementary as the basis for the creation of the works.

He is still "on the way to painting," says Jung. Anyone who is reminded of Picasso or Basquiat when looking at his works of art will recognize, among other things, Marc Jung's intention not to commit himself to purely representational mimesis. Instead, the viewer is presented with Jung's search for a contemporary form of expression in image form. This is clearly one of those cases in which the path is the destination. Knowing the rules of the art cosmos, Jung subverts them ironically like Kippenberger, morally but without pointing the finger like his professor Richter, cynically provocative like Meese and with a large portion of musical subculture on the canvas. Above all, it is music that inspires him and accompanies him while he paints. The titles of the works are evidence of this, for example humorously distorted snippets from German or English rap songs: "You are not a gang member, you are a tourist."² Based on the recontextualization undertaken, who is the addressee of this suspicion...? The image, the viewer and the artist himself are equally put to the test of art." —Theresa Brauer

With a spray can and acrylic paint, Marc Jung breaks with traditional ideas about painting and confronts the grey of monotonous cities. The Erfurt artist, who studied at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, breaks up every urban concrete wasteland with his shrill colour palette. As a child of East German social prefab housing, he began to brighten his world with art in his youth. From a rebellious graffiti sprayer, he developed into an internationally sought-after and renowned artist.

The subversive energy of his working method remains a crucial part of his painting technique and is evident in the motifs. The English-German play on words in the exhibition title is repeated in many of his work titles and is characteristic of Jung's biting humor. Anyone who wants to hold their own in the shark tank of high society must be strong and well armed. The work that gives the title shows a muscle-bound shark that shows off luxury labels and smiles at the viewer with sharp teeth. With many details and the energetic figures, Marc Jung inspires us to think in an incredibly lively way. Each figure has an ironic saying on its lips, boasts about status symbols and at the same time reveals the illusion of "SHARK CIETY".