"Herbst’s studio based practice is an investigation of the pictorial and formal space of painting, an exploration into the representation of social space achieved through the act of negotiating the painted surface. The artist combines the influences of Photorealism, Geometric Abstraction and Abstract Expressionist painting techniques, which are deployed to recreate the transient makeshift structures made by the homeless in the streets, stairways and derelict urban landscapes of London. The materials and fibers that make up these shelters, and the way they are at odds with the surrounding architecture and immediate environment of London, a starting point that soon departs from the premise of ‘studies’. By using art languages as a systematic code, Herbst provokes the original subject matter to operate more poignantly, the results of which challenge the viewer to negotiate and navigate through the tension created by the polarities of subject matter and its representation through painting.” -RH

Günther Herbst received his MA in Fine Art in 2002 from Goldsmiths College – University of London and his BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins, London in 1999. Some of his exhibitions include: Graceland, London; Home Truths, Harewood House, Leeds; Jerwood Contemporary Painters, Jerwood Space, London (touring); ARTfutures 2007, Bloomberg SPACE, London; John Moores 24, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; Caution Uneven Surfaces, Temporarycontemporary, London; One in the Other, London; Gewalt, Loushy Art and Editions, Tel Aviv; Maleorder, Durban National Gallery, South Africa; Hänel Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa; Un Art Contemperain d’Afriqu de Sud, Gallerie de l’Esplenade, Paris. Herbst lives and works in London, United Kingdom.

Work courtesy the artist.

Below is a link to the exhibition brochure with essay written by Rebecca Harris...