During an exclusive opening at HG Contemporary on Thursday September 7th, Tim will flip one selected piece from horizontal to vertical - a process he has made famous through videos online. This exposes the intricate images he makes by allowing the sand and gold unglued to canvases fall away. His New York series will focus specifically on large-format works depicting impressive architecture, or “Monuments,” along with one celebrity portrait to be announced.
Inspired from a young age on trips to the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart near his home of Ostfildern, Germany, Tim started imitating drawings of artists like Cy Twombly and Kandinsky. He was confused what simple dashes of color could mean and started realizing the importance of defining his own style. Earning his first art award at 18 for a collage made of coins depicting his perception of the European financial crisis, Tim then became determined to define a technique with “great recognition value.” He developed his method of using sand, gold and glue between 2014 and 2015 before becoming a social media sensation by sharing videos of his process with dramatic conclusions of the flipping process of pieces from horizontal to vertical.
With over a quarter million social media followers, Tim now chooses his themes carefully, wanting each “to be a challenge,” and “not to be subordinated to anyone or any ideology.” So for this large-format series for New York, he wants to “bring life into something that is lifeless in itself and to display it in a thrilling way. That’s why I chose the most difficult buildings, but I am sure I’ll be able to master the challenge.”
When not producing, Time engages with art and philosophy at the elite university of Tübingen. His focus is to continue defining the unique qualities of his artistic expression while trying new and bold methods. “My conviction is that arts can neither be learned nor taught. The whole of the arts needs to be absolutely free.”