Martin Lehmer

Martin Lehmer was born in Benediktbeuern, Germany in 1987. He lives and works in Munich, Germany.

With his “black pictures,” Martin Lehmer presented, in 2017, a new cycle of works that is quite distinct from his previously classic figurations. The trained wood sculptor layers strips of broken medium-density fireboard (MDF) on top of each other, creating pictorial surfaces of extraordinary plasticity and presence. The black MDF he uses is a neutral and light material that is not as resistant as wood, but which, because of its texture, creates velvet-like structures at its fragile broken edges. Light is absorbed and reflected in equal measure by the black pictorial surface, which only initially appears monochrome. As the viewer engages with these coal-black reliefs, more and more of their subtleties are revealed. The restricted use of the “achromatic color” black elicits an elementary response to art that gives us pause and inspires contemplation.