18 May - 5 July 2025
Flowers of Evil Neighbours
Fritz Bornstück Michiel Ceulers
Philip Grözinger Lou Hoyer
Fee Kleiss Monika Michalko
Manfred Peckl Paul Pretzer
In 1864 Charles Baudelaire retreated from Paris to Brussels in search of a new start after having seen some of his poems banned from publication and himself condemned to pay a fine. Besides writing poetry, Baudelaire was deeply interested in art, as his essay The Painter of Modern Life, published in Le Figaro in 1863, testifies. Baudelaire viewed the artist as a guide to the essential aspects of the subjects depicted, rather than as a mere replicator of reality. The artists/painters we invited to participate in this reflection (all of whom live in Germany except for one, who lives in Belgium) each responded in their own way. But at least one common feature emerged: flowers – most of the works approach the floral theme literally, while some present a form of landscape or still life reinterpreted in a contemporary fashion, thereby exposing the disjointed and dystopian worlds surrounding us.
That is the case with Paul Pretzer, whose flowers live in animal-shaped containers or are presented in surroundings inspired by animals, combinations surreally oscillating between mysterious, grotesque and humorous.
Bouquet (2021), oil on wood, 100 x 90 cm
Philip Grözinger’s submissions are manifold: a very poetic colour pencil drawing, presenting a flower bouquet plucked somewhere in the countryside, a reference to children’s drawings; a canvas inspired by science fiction, with an astronaut and other squeaky figures wandering around on the Moon, or maybe Mars, where some surreal flowers exist alongside many floating elements.
Keine Ahnung (I) (2025), oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm
Monika Michalko’s paintings offer very colourful flower arrangements covering the entire canvas, as if one would zoom into a tropical garden. However, when taking a closer look at the painting entitled Flowers for the Evil Neighbours, one discovers almost abstract colour shapes floating around and arranged in layers to form a dense and surreal Disney-like fairytale setting.
Flowers for the Evil Neighbours (2025), oil on canvas, 140 x 120 cm
Lou Hoyer’s drawings stand out with their soft pastel tones and subtle layering of colours. They offer a different, more interior and emotional, even erotic interpretation of the floral theme.
Kleine Sekunde (4) (2019), pastel on paper, 72 x 51 cm
Looking at the oil paintings presented by Fritz Bornstück, the initiator of this group show, one may experience some sort of unease at the choice of colour schemes, which allude to dissonance rather than harmony in the landscapes they represent. Some flowers still survive and flourish in what could be urban wasteland, full of abandoned objects, remains of a civilisation driven by consumerism. But hey, there is still life! A reason for optimism?
Private Property 2 (2025), oil on canvas, 140 x 120 cm
A similar feeling emerges from the collages presented by Fee Kleiss. By including found materials, partly trash, they become phantasy objects that seem to have become more and more surreal, unnatural.
Tina’s Tulips (2025), glue and pigments, pencil and collage on paper, 32,5 x 22 cm
By contrast, Michiel Ceulers is showing a very orderly arranged flower field on a nonrectangular surface, even if those flowers look rather artificial.
Wie tötet man den Liebhaber seiner Frau, wenn man wie ich mit Traditionen aufgewachsen ist? (Missverständnisse und verlorene Zeit) (2024), oil, acrylic, encaustic and glitters on cotton duck, on plastic laminated wooden board, ø 120 cm
The collages by Manfred Peckl are of quite a different nature: he chose to work with the poems by Charles Baudelaire, extracting words and using them to form images representing flowers and other natural forms.
Spleen et Idéal 41 (2025), paper collage, 17,7 x 10,5 cm
Baudelaire himself, in the above-mentioned essay, expressed "his vision of modernity by describing an artist as ‘a denizen of the world, a denizen of the crowd’, a solitary ‘flâneur’ and ‘passionate observer’ in search of modernity, who is capable of ‘drawing the eternal from the transitory’, the ‘fugitive’, the ‘contingent’. That is where the modern painter and the modern poet come together." (Coralie Philibert, Charles Baudelaire, critique d’art - gallica.bnf.fr/accueil/fr/html/charles-baudelaire-critique-dart)
Artists’ CVs
Born 1982 in Weilburg an der Lahn, Germany, Fritz Bornstück studied mathematics, philosophy and Fine Arts in Mainz, Berlin and Amsterdam. He works and lives in Berlin and Neuhardenberg. Since 2007, he has participated in many solo and group shows in Germany and abroad and has won several important scholarships and prizes, including the 2022 Brandenburgischer Kunstpreis and in 2012 Buning Brongers AwardPrize (Mondriaan Fund), Amsterdam. His works can be found in many public and private collections.
www.bornstueck.de
Born in 1986 in Waregem, Belgium, Michiel Ceulers studied at KASK Ghent and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. He lives and works in Brussels. In 2011, he was awarded the Belgian Art Prize. He has participated in many solo and group shows in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, the US.
@michielceulers
Born in 1972 in Braunschweig, Germany, Philip Grözinger studied Fine Arts at Braunschweig University of Art (HBK) and holds a a lectureship (painting) at Kunsthochschule Weissensee, Berlin. He lives and works in Berlin. Since 1998, he has participated in many solo and group shows in Germany and abroad.
philipgroezinger.com
Born in 1985 in Berlin, Lou Hoyer studied Fine Arts at the UdK, Berlin, and at the Centro National de las Artes, Mexico City. She lives and works in Potsdam. She has participated in many solo and group exhibitions and performances in Germany and internationally.
www.louhoyer.de
Born in 1984 in Kuchen, Germany, Fee Kleiss studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Mainz and the Berlin University of the Arts. In 2013 she was master student of Valérie Favre. Since 2005, her works has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at art galleries and in cultural spaces in Germany, Denmark (Copenhagen), France (Paris), and the US (New York).
www.feekleiss.de
Born in 1982 in Sokolov, Czech Republic, Monika Michalko studied at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg and the École supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Marseille, France. She was awarded many scholarships in Germany and abroad and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Germany and internationally. She lives and works in Berlin.
www.monikamichalko.com
Born 1968 in Wels, Austria, Manfred Peckl studied Fine Arts at the Hochschule für Kunst und Gestaltung in Linz, Austria, and at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. In addition to his various teaching commitments, he has participated in many solo and group shows worldwide; furthermore, he has curated several shows and made a number of publications and recordings. He lives and works in Berlin.
www.manfred.peckl.com
Born in 1981 in Paide, Estonia, Paul Pretzer studied Fine Arts at the Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Kiel, and the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Dresden. In 2009, he was awarded the Robert Sterl Preis der Sammelstiftung des Bezirkes Dresden; he was also awarded several scholarships. He has participated in many solo and group shows internationally.
www.paulpretzer.com
Title image: Eddie Bonesire, Kleingarten, Berlin-Französisch Buchholz (2016)