A recent UdK graduate, Jannik Richard (b. 1996, Cologne), is a German artist currently living and working in Berlin. 

As a 2023 UdK graduate, he works within the realm of analog identity manipulation. He uses painting, sculpture, and installation to meticulously craft compositions that provoke a sense of disorientation through deliberate folds and distortions. Drawing inspiration from both classical art and contemporary culture, his work evokes the timeless allure of Greek mythology, such as the role of satyrs. He weaves this imagery into his creations, infusing them with a modern twist that reflects his creative process. In his paintings, an overarching theme coalesces and runs through the entire body of work. Motifs of pleasure, as well as natural needs, are presented and simultaneously challenge the viewer with the conflicts such impulses pose. While intense pleasure and enjoyment are promised in the short term, one carries the risk of possible self-overestimation and the neglect of long-term consequences.

When using real people as references in his paintings, Richard does so with utmost intentionality, selecting subjects exclusively from his inner circle of family and friends. It’s a process where familiarity blurs the lines between friend and kin, fostering a deeply personal exploration of human connection. Through an abstract approach, his paintings result in an abstraction of the person: ultimately, his perspective yields a new character, one that interacts with his own fiction. Throughout this process, he lets art history, artists who have inspired him, as well as his own creativity lead the approach. To Richard, painting often feels like conversing with other artists and his subjects. Reality plays no primary role and is foremost excluded from his art.