With its current exhibition Daniel Grüttner – Out of the Web, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München (State Graphic Collection Munich) once again addresses the question of the significance of drawing in the 21st century. The project marks the start of three consecutive exhibitions in 2026 that will discuss the relationship between painting and drawing within an individual artistic oeuvre.
Image above: Daniel Grüttner, Ecco, 2025, Öl auf Nessel, 65 × 56 cm, Foto: Matthias Kolb, © Daniel Grüttner.
What is new is that Grüttner is also presenting himself as a draughtsman in his current exhibition. Until now, it has gone unnoticed that he usually accompanies the creative process in his studio with drawings, almost like a diary, during the period in which a single oil painting is created. One could get the impression that he feverishly “smears” the brushes saturated with oil paint from his day’s work onto sheets of paper. In fact, however, he reflects on his day’s work with verve as he draws – he comments on, rethinks and drives forward the current painting, which is still in progress, from drawing to drawing. In the context of the paintings, the sheets of paper thus take on considerable significance, as they are neither sketches nor preliminary studies, nor are they to be understood as a kind of reflection or commentary on a painting after the fact. Rather, they are equal dialogue partners in the ongoing process of the work’s genesis. In the case of his most recent monochrome paintings, this also explains the extraordinary dynamism and tension of the graphic graphemes on each individual drawing sheet, when the form beyond colour becomes indispensable to the creative process.
A central artistic phenomenon that preoccupies him in his work is the fundamental consideration of how, in the creative process, a pictorial space can be established and captured beyond the flat surface without becoming rigid. Precisely because colour is not the primary focus in the Out of the Web series, this process becomes an appealing visual challenge for the viewer. In this minimalist-looking series, Grüttner confidently succeeds in balancing individual types of strokes and spolia, which at first glance appear to be merely ephemeral gestures, in the monochrome pictorial space in such a way that they form a convincing composition while still appearing fleeting. Pentimenti are hardly possible here, as they would undoubtedly stand out as visible traces.
It is impressive how Grüttner manages to capture the quintessence of his painterly thinking in his images, despite the monochrome backgrounds in yellow or blue and, for the most part, a colourless white-grey. What’s more, the monochrome emphasises the consistency of his painterly world of ideas and at the same time brings to mind his multicoloured work, which thus appears all the more radical. On the other hand, the abstract pictorial spaces of the no less complex monochrome compositions radiate an unusual form of calm compared to his familiar impulsive colour worlds. When viewed as a whole, it is striking that here, too, the question of form and non-form is beyond discussion. Rather, the image is kept in a state of emergence and transience, rendering the search for a motif obsolete – a conceptual decision that can be considered the ultimate in abstract painting, but which rarely proves convincing.
It is irrelevant whether Grüttner’s work can be described as representational or non-representational, i.e. figurative or non-figurative, when he is more interested in the transitional state between these two poles, in which he wants to keep his works when he declares them valid and releases them from his studio.
What is certain is that painter and illustrator Daniel Grüttner sees the playful introspection entitled Out of the Web less as a turning point and more as a reflection of his artistic means. It represents a moment of pause before he turns his attention to other artistic questions and advances into new visual worlds.
Kurator: Michael Hering, Direktor Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München
WHEN?
Exhibition dates: Thursday, 5 February – Sunday, 3 May 2026
Opening: Wednesday, 4 February 2026, 7 p.m.
Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
WHERE?
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München
Katharina-von-Bora-Straße 10
80333 Munich
