Karin Kneffel (*1957 in Marl ) is considered one of Europe ’s most prominent painters. Her style is seductive; her pictures appear to revel in the sheer beauty of their surfaces. Thus even middle-class interiors would appear alluringly splendid if it weren’t for the highly polished parquet floor that threatens to pull the rug from beneath our feet. Her luscious still lifes are uncanny, her monumental pictures of fruit surreal, her series of animal portraits absurd. Perspectives are distorted, reflections develop a life of their own. Kneffel’s subtle alienation tactics are right on target. The suggestive pull of her hyperrealistic imagery is accompanied by an unmistakable appeal to distrust their representational character. The point of her art, as the painter expresses it in a nutshell, is “to raise doubt.”

Exhibition schedule: Kunsthalle Tübingen, May 1–July 11, 2010