Bernhard Martin

Bernhard Martin draws from a plethora of sources both high and low to produce paintings, sculptures, and installations that fuse reality and fantasy. Martin’s artworks—which have ranged from architectural models to medical illustrations—bring art historical and pop imagery together in surreal juxtaposition. “What I am interested in is the clash between worlds, islands, chambers of marvel, biotopes, contrasts,” Martin has said. “In other words, everyday life.” Kings Corner, one of a series of armoires created by the artist, is an installation consisting of a walk-in closet that opens to reveal a bedazzling dance-bar tableau. The work at once meditates on the alienation of the modern human condition and addresses the dichotomy between the mundane and the fantastical. “What I need I make for myself,” he says.