Wendelin Wohlgemuth

Since his Seattle debut in 2016 (at Linda Hodges Gallery), painter Wendelin Wohlgemuth has shown in New York, Los Angeles, Spain, and Sweden. Psychologically astute, his figurative work captures human emotion in raw form and reflects his concern with identity.

This new body of work is inspired by photographic imagery, which he translates in paint and then adds abstract marks, thus reinforcing his view that we “see photographs in the same way we view ourselves: as virtual objects.”

Wohlgemuth’s simulated realities mine those gaps between what is perceived as real and what is immaterial. In this exhibition, Desert Paintings, isolated, dislocated figures traverse vast inhuman landscapes. They are like ghosts treading lightly on unforgiving terrain. Other figures appear as psychologically disturbed, fragile in their emotionally wrought existence.

Wohlgemuth suggests “these images of impaired bodies ask us to consider our connection to the cruelty and indifference of the natural world, and to recognize our own materiality as a way of affirming our existence.”

Wohlgemuth took part in a collaborative project called “Death Of A Coworker” on Instagram, which involved 14 artists asked to paint portraits of one another. He was also invited to host “Paintguide” on Instagram, which is basically a page that lets artists share inspirational images (of other art) to multitudes of followers. Since then, Wohlgemuth has gained a substantial following on Instagram himself.

Currently residing in Atlanta, Wohlgemuth majored in studio art and minored in philosophy at Western Washington University.