Nikolaus Kriese – Contemporary Artist – International Commissioned Paintings

2009–2017

Between 2009 and 2017, Nikolaus Kriese’s artistic focus centered on space, architecture, and landscape. This period marked a phase of intensive exploration—not of the visible world itself, but of its possibilities. The works from these years reimagine reality through layered pictorial worlds in which naturalistic, modern, and traditional perspectives merge into a new visual whole.

Kriese developed his motifs from everyday encounters—with buildings, interiors, urban structures, objects, and landscapes. These impressions were transformed on canvas into autonomous compositions: structurally grounded, carefully considered in color, yet always interpretative rather than descriptive.

By combining multicolored and monochrome surfaces, figurative and expressive elements, a distinct pictorial logic emerged. The clear articulation of space, object, and surface created image spaces in which perception remains open—everything appears possible.

During this period, Kriese worked primarily with oil and acrylic on canvas. Color was often applied directly and decisively. Each work follows an internal order, with recurring forms and themes creating a quiet sense of seriality that defines his visual language.

The spaces depicted are almost entirely devoid of people—silent, uninhabited, sometimes cool in atmosphere. Even where plants or everyday objects appear, a certain distance remains. Architecture, utilitarian forms, and fragments of nature function as independent visual protagonists—precisely composed, frequently on a large scale.

This phase presents an artist who does not replicate reality but rethinks it; who does not illustrate, but makes visible. His painting remains open—and deliberately positioned beyond the mainstream.

Color as Material, Emotion, Explosion

In this body of work, pure, intense color stands at the center—both as material and as expression. Created on handcrafted stretcher frames, these paintings unfold as powerful compositions in which free gesture, palette knife work, pigment, and oil paint merge into a vivid chromatic staging. The works live through their material presence—thick, layered, and almost bodily in their physicality.

Pigments are mixed, spread, scraped, and blended with oil until they reach maximum luminosity. Color fields interact directly with one another, reacting, repelling, or attracting. What emerges is a dialogue from surface to surface, from color to color—raw, playful, and expressive.

The motifs arise through the act of painting itself. Spontaneity and structure, emotional gesture and deliberate restraint meet within the process. These works reveal a world in which color becomes the subject—an energetic force, a carrier of mood, a field of possibility.

Between expressive chromatic intensity and controlled composition, new spatial impressions open up. A playful, almost fairy-tale-like dimension begins to surface, with subtle references to nature, forest landscapes, and a mystical sense of the outside world. Yet the works remain abstract—building bridges to reality without imitating it.

These paintings do not ask anything of the viewer— but they do challenge perception.

Spaces of Light, Line, and Imagination

2007–2016

Which places do we carry within us? When does imagination become space? And at what point does that space become real?

The works created between 2007 and 2016 engage with these questions, focusing on transparency, construction, and composition. Glass plays a central role: glass blocks, bottles, windows, marbles, vessels, gemstones—translucent materials that reflect light while simultaneously providing structure. In some paintings, a small windmill appears on the horizon, almost disappearing from view.

The pictorial architecture is precisely geometric, often bordering on the technical. Red accents punctuate predominantly blue-toned color spaces. Some works open toward expansive landscapes, while others construct deliberately artificial environments. Yet the compositions remain consistently controlled, clearly conceived—an ongoing interplay between order and surface.

In many of these works, the sky assumes a central role. Objects appear to float, seemingly released from physical weight. A sense of weightlessness and detachment emerges. The forms remain cool, almost sterile—a visual language that recalls New Objectivity while at the same time operating on a deeply metaphorical level.

These works create zones of imagination: places of retreat, landscapes of thought, spaces for reflection. They open new dimensions—both as inner architecture and as playful construction. The world appears here as a modular system: open to variation, shaped by structure, and carried by a quiet, crystalline sense of mystery.

Spaces of Light, Line, and Imagination

2007–2016

Which places do we carry within us? When does imagination become space? And at what point does that space feel real?

The works created between 2007 and 2016 are dedicated to these questions, with a focus on transparency, construction, and composition. Glass stands at the center: glass blocks, bottles, windows, marbles, vessels, gemstones—translucent materials that reflect light while simultaneously providing structure. In some paintings, a small windmill appears on the horizon, almost disappearing into the distance.

The pictorial architecture is precisely geometric, often nearly technical in nature. Red accents punctuate predominantly blue-toned color spaces. Some works open toward expansive landscapes, while others construct artificial, self-contained environments. Yet the compositions remain consistently controlled, clearly conceived—an ongoing play between order and surface.

In many of these paintings, the sky plays a central role. Objects appear to float, seemingly released from physical weight. A sense of weightlessness emerges, of detachment and quiet suspension. The forms remain cool, almost sterile—a visual language that recalls New Objectivity while simultaneously operating on a deeply metaphorical level.

These works create zones of imagination: spaces of retreat, mental landscapes, environments for contemplation. They open new dimensions—both as inner architecture and as playful construction. The world appears here as a modular system: open to variation, defined by structure, and carried by a subtle, crystalline sense of mystery.