The USA hears Höller's cry
Mainpost 16.08.2021 - von Steffen Krapf
Alexander Höller, the artist from Schwebheim, shows the world the
middle finger – and triggers a real hype in the art scene again. At the end of last year, the now 25-year-old announced the interruption of his successful “Forest Series,” a retrospective of which will be on view at his exhibition in Schweinfurt next year (Jan. 28 to March 27,22) at the Kunsthalle. With his new series “The Silent Scream,” the young painter is following in the footsteps of Edvard Munch’s work of the same name.
As always, when Höller takes paint, brush and spray can in hand, the end result is wild, colorful, large-scale and profound. With his new series, he wants to hold a mirror up to society with his self-portraits. The result of his artwork leaves the impression that he becomes the artistic arm of all the oppressed and outsiders with his outstretched middle fingers and screaming grimace. The response from the last three months since he published his “Silent Scream” shows him that he is “right on the pulse of the times” with it, the artist explains.
In the ski resort of Aspen
Exhibitors Robert Casterline and Jordan Goodmann from the USA agreed. “This is exactly what America needs right now – the double fuck finger,” the two told Höller after he sent them a short presentation video nearly three months ago. In defiance of Corona, two weeks ago Casterline and Goodmann organized Höller’s first solo exhibition in the U.S., in the famous ski resort of Aspen, Colorado, in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, where celebrities and the super-rich spend their vacations, especially in pandemic times.
Sold out immediately
Even at the airport in Frankfurt before departure, the Munich resident received a call from the USA. “We need more pictures,” was the short and sweet message. Höller’s four-day trip to the States had turned out to be a complete success. Even before Casterline and Goodman opened the doors of their gallery, the ten works shipped to the U.S. were sold, as well as another five that will be delivered later in the course of the exhibition.
Waiting list with 30 collectors
The demand for the German’s “Silent Scream” is high. In the meantime, there is a waiting list in the USA for Höller’s paintings with 30 collectors. “This is something completely new for me, that people are waiting for my paintings. Ten years ago I still exhibited my first paintings in the city gallery and was happy if two or three were sold there.”
Presentation in the capital
Alexander Höller will be able to cope with the “luxury problem” of not being able to finish new pictures for the time being. For him, after tough months in the pandemic, in which exhibitions were hardly possible, it is now blow after blow. This Thursday he opens his largest exhibition to date in Germany in Berlin, under the provocative title “Fuck them”. His pictures will hang in the capital until September 2, and the next day they will be on display in Cologne. Also on the schedule for this year are Spain, South Korea and Miami.