The paintings by Jochen Hein (*1960 in Husum) do not reflect reality. Even though the viewer sees realistically painted nature, park landscapes, buildings, and people, at the same time they open up a new world. Sections of the paintings show, for instance, details of a face, of surfaces of grass or water reduced to breaking surf, or blurred horizons between ocean and sky. Yet the depiction’s fixation on detail allows room for the imagination. Emotions arise—wishes, dreams, fears. Closely related to German Romanticism, the densely atmospheric paintings seem like the condensation of a moment. Some are hardly larger than a notebook, while others fill entire museum walls. Regardless of their format, they show the power, vastness, and mystery of a nature that humankind will never be able to subdue completely. Exhibition schedule: Mittelrhein Museum, Koblenz, July 5–October 6, 2013 | Stadtgalerie Klagenfurt, October 17, 2013–January 26, 2014 | Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche, Aschaffenburg, February 15–May 4, 2014