Magnus Plessen

Magnus Plessen (*1967, Hamburg; lives in Berlin) is a painter who incorporates fragmented figures and everyday objects into his works, creating a poetic balance between abstraction and figuration. His technique combines gestural painting with the deliberate removal of paint—using tools like spatulas, cloths, or tape—to develop rhythmically structured compositions. The motifs seem to hover between presence and disappearance—body parts or everyday fragments detach from defined backgrounds and appear like afterimages.

Solo exhibitions include The Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Massachusetts (2014); Art Institute of Chicago (2005); Espace 315, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2004); Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, K21, Düsseldorf, Germany (2002); and MoMA PS1, New York (2002). He has participated in many group exhibitions internationally including Museu Serralves, Porto, Portugal (2007); Sammlung Goetz, Munich (2006); and the 50th Venice Biennale (2003).