German-Brazilian artist Janaina Tschäpe brings three decades of multidisciplinary practice to Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin with her first solo exhibition there, titled “A gush of wind (Atemraum)”. Her paintings on canvas and works on paper present dream-like abstract landscapes that balance fluidity and delicacy, drawing inspiration from memory and the natural world. The exhibition is suffused with a universal language that reflects the artist’s experiences across different geographies (Germany, Brazil, the United States).
💨 The Movement of Water and Sensory Translation
The large-scale new canvases displayed on the ground floor pose questions about how Tschäpe transforms sensory experiences, sounds, and memories into abstraction. Executed in oil paint and oil pastel, these organic forms rise and fall as if carried by the motion of water.
Fluidity and Structure
In Tschäpe’s paintings, colours blend and spread into one another—like a state of osmosis. This fluidity is counterbalanced by loosely drawn oil-pastel structures, creating layered depth on the canvas.
Nature and Memory
The artist likens these layers to the softness of sky seen through the silhouettes of tree branches. Nature—especially our experience of water—and language (spoken expression, poetry) are primary sources of inspiration for her work.
Open-Ended Narrative
Rather than imposing a fixed narrative, Tschäpe’s paintings generate a layered, open, and free-flowing movement. Brushstrokes and gestures remain visibly present, inviting the viewer to shift between foreground and background, first and final layers—like a conversation. Instead of enforcing a rigid architecture, the artist captures moods and encourages viewers to add their own readings.
🌊 A Landscape Inspired by Monet: Me, as a Landscape
The exhibition’s point of departure is the large-scale triptych “Me, as a landscape” (2025). Painted as a single work across three separate canvases, it forms a harmonious whole greater than the sum of its parts. With its horizontal format and organic shapes reminiscent of waterside vegetation, this abstract landscape evokes the water lilies of Claude Monet (1840–1926), an artist who inspired Tschäpe in her childhood.
📝 Poetic Impulse on Paper
On the upper floor, facing the monumental painting “Nostalgia de verão (summer craving)” (2025), a series of works on paper in watercolour and pastel are presented. In these pieces, drawing functions as a kind of visual writing, reflecting the structures of language. This poetic impulse lies at the heart of Tschäpe’s practice: she treats marks like elliptical, open-ended, thought-provoking lines of verse, creating space for subjective reading and intimate encounter.
The titles of the works are a mixture of Portuguese, English, and German—mirroring how certain words resist full translation and coexist with distinct meanings—each title opening a door into the artist’s inner world.
🎨 Janaina Tschäpe: “A gush of wind (Atemraum)” – Exhibition Details
Janaina Tschäpe’s exhibition of new works, “A gush of wind (Atemraum)”, opened on 7 November 2025 at Galerie Max Hetzler’s Berlin space at Potsdamer Straße 77–87 and remains on view until 31 January 2026.
