Werner Büttner
Werner Büttner - Analogies, Allegories and Metaphors of the Human Condition
2022.06.24 - 08.21
Triumph Gallery is pleased to present “Analogies, Allegories and Metaphors of the Human Condition,” Werner Büttner's first solo exhibition in China from June 24 to August 21, 2022. The exhibition covers about 30 years of Büttner's representative works from the early 1990s to the present, including a number of oil paintings and works on paper, covering subjects such as objects, landscapes, modern science, and art history.
Werner Büttner (b.1954, Jena, Germany) , was a professor at the Oil Painting Department of the Hamburg University of Fine Arts. His works are often exhibited in many art institutions around the world and are collected by many important institutions and foundations.
As the intellectual figurehead of one of Germany most renowned artist groups in the 1980s, Büttner, alongside Martin Kippenberger and Albert Oehlen, have together shaped a subversive visual language that upended the technique and aesthetic of traditional painting, forming an artistic style that was later christened “Bad Painting” in the canon of German art history.
Büttner's practice explores the relentless folly of our misguided society. In his works, he uses humor and satire to fight social norms and depict a sense of reality with mixed feelings of sadness and joy. As the artist himself said: “Art has to have something to do with reality, with what is happening on this planet. If it doesn’t, for me it is boring.”
The human condition in all its glory and its misery is at the core of his interest and compassion. His intellectual curiosity and rigorous thinking are paired with a heightened sensibility for human strife. And all his artworks are witness to this uncompromising commitment to “La Condition Humaine.”
Werner Büttner (b.1954, Jena, Germany) , was a professor at the Oil Painting Department of the Hamburg University of Fine Arts. His works are often exhibited in many art institutions around the world and are collected by many important institutions and foundations.
As the intellectual figurehead of one of Germany most renowned artist groups in the 1980s, Büttner, alongside Martin Kippenberger and Albert Oehlen, have together shaped a subversive visual language that upended the technique and aesthetic of traditional painting, forming an artistic style that was later christened “Bad Painting” in the canon of German art history.
Büttner's practice explores the relentless folly of our misguided society. In his works, he uses humor and satire to fight social norms and depict a sense of reality with mixed feelings of sadness and joy. As the artist himself said: “Art has to have something to do with reality, with what is happening on this planet. If it doesn’t, for me it is boring.”
The human condition in all its glory and its misery is at the core of his interest and compassion. His intellectual curiosity and rigorous thinking are paired with a heightened sensibility for human strife. And all his artworks are witness to this uncompromising commitment to “La Condition Humaine.”
Werner Büttner
Werner Büttner was born in 1954, Jena, Germany. He studied Law at Berlin Free University in 1973. He Moved to Hamburg in 1977, and worked with Georg Herold, Martin Kippenberger and Albert Oehlen from 1977 to 1985. From 1989 to 2021, he was a Professor of Painting at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. The artist currently lives and works in Geesthacht, Germany.
Werner Büttner's recent solo exhibitions include: He, Who Does Not Thrash Painting, Hates Painting!, Triumph Gallery, Beijing, 2025; Fool, Leaving the Shelter of Seclusion, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, 2025; Malerei 1981-2022, Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, 2023; Werner Büttner, Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, 2022; Analogies, Allegories and Metaphors of the Human Condition, Triumph Gallery, Beijing, 2022; Last Lecture Show, The Ranch, New York, 2022; Last Lecture Show, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburger, 2021; No Scene from My Studio, Simon Lee Gallery, London, 2021. Recent group exhibitions include: How’s my painting? Paintings from the Falckenberg Collection, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, 2025; Back then has always been now. Painting since 1947 reconsidered, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, 2021; Works on paper 5, Max Weber Six Friedric, Munich, 2021; Büttner, Kippenberger & Oehlen: Trio Infernal, Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG, Zurich, 2020; Der Goldene Reiter in Faustrecht der Freiheit aka Fox and His Friends, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, 2020; Works on paper 4, Max Weber Six Friedric, Munich, 2020; Room enough for former teasers, Galerie Gisela Capitain, St. Apern Str., Cologne, 2020; Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Gallery, London, 2020; Works from the 1980s/Conceptual Photography, Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2020.
In addition, Büttner’s works are in many important collections, institutions and foundations, such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, USA; Cincinnati Art Museum, USA; FRAC Poitou- Charentes, France; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany; Mumok – Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Austria; Harvard Art Museum, USA; Pinakothek der Moderne, Germany, and many more.
Werner Büttner's recent solo exhibitions include: He, Who Does Not Thrash Painting, Hates Painting!, Triumph Gallery, Beijing, 2025; Fool, Leaving the Shelter of Seclusion, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, 2025; Malerei 1981-2022, Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, 2023; Werner Büttner, Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, 2022; Analogies, Allegories and Metaphors of the Human Condition, Triumph Gallery, Beijing, 2022; Last Lecture Show, The Ranch, New York, 2022; Last Lecture Show, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburger, 2021; No Scene from My Studio, Simon Lee Gallery, London, 2021. Recent group exhibitions include: How’s my painting? Paintings from the Falckenberg Collection, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, 2025; Back then has always been now. Painting since 1947 reconsidered, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, 2021; Works on paper 5, Max Weber Six Friedric, Munich, 2021; Büttner, Kippenberger & Oehlen: Trio Infernal, Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG, Zurich, 2020; Der Goldene Reiter in Faustrecht der Freiheit aka Fox and His Friends, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, 2020; Works on paper 4, Max Weber Six Friedric, Munich, 2020; Room enough for former teasers, Galerie Gisela Capitain, St. Apern Str., Cologne, 2020; Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Gallery, London, 2020; Works from the 1980s/Conceptual Photography, Marlborough Gallery, New York, 2020.
In addition, Büttner’s works are in many important collections, institutions and foundations, such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, USA; Cincinnati Art Museum, USA; FRAC Poitou- Charentes, France; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany; Mumok – Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Austria; Harvard Art Museum, USA; Pinakothek der Moderne, Germany, and many more.
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